The Other Hero of Time
by Moon13Dreams
Summary: Long after the time of "Twilight Princess" arises a new evil that dominates over the once beautiful land of Hyrule without confrontment of the legendary Hero of Time. What happens when a girl from that dark era is transported back into the time of "Twilight Princess"? This pairs Link with my OC, so no flaming please c: Some violence and death later on. Please review and enjoy! c:
1. Chapter 1

Again, as stated in the discription, this is a story pairing my OC character with Link, so I wish for there to be no flaming.

I highly doubt that anyone who clicks on this story would do so with any other intention than to read it out of pure interest, but I have to put that disclaimer just in case c:

I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd love to hear what you have to say!

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The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 1

"Miss, are you alright?" A faded voice seems to echo miles above me. It's soft and filled with concern. I figure it must be a woman; her pitch much too high for the average man to reach.

I try to focus on her words as my ears fade fickly in and out of range of her calmed voice. Despite my efforts, I can't seem to focus very well as sensations of exhaustion and pain begin to sweep over me. _What's going on? Why do I feel so drained?_

"You called upon us, Princess?" A couple of deeper voices enter my range of hearing simultaneously.

"Take this girl to the castle. I'm afraid she's injured."

"Yes, Princess."

Almost immediately, I can feel my body being lifted, my cheek resting on something smooth and cold. I try to piece what little I've hear together, but I can't seem to concentrate on that very well as questions begin to dance around in my mind. _Where am I anyway? I wonder why I can't seem to remember anything. I guess there's no use in asking questions that I can't answer myself, though, I wish I knew how I got to be this way…_

_-/~/~/~/-_

With my senses soon returning to my conscious mind, I hesitantly begin to open my eyes, blinking what seems to be a thousand times to relieve myself of the burning pain in my eyes caused by the sun's rays. It takes what seems to be centuries for me to get my eyes into focus, but once I do, I see the elegant wooden top of a bed. I stare at for a long time, wondering how in the world I got into a bed in the first place, before looking over to my left to see a woman sitting patiently at my bedside.

I don't know how old she is, but she seems to be very young, probably no older than twenty. Maybe eighteen or nineteen with such young looking skin. She's very beautiful with golden laces in her long brown hair. Her dress looks as if woven by the heavens with elegant silk threads with jewels of sapphire embedded in gold decorating the garment. With a soft smile and gentle cerulean eyes, she says, "You've finally awoken."

"Who are you?" I sit up defensively with my right arm instinctually raised as if holding an invisible object. I don't know why I do this, but if feels right; safe. "What has happened? And where am I?"

"There's no need to be afraid." She puts her white gloved hand on mine tenderly. "I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule. I found you in the outskirts of Hyrule Fields. I don't know what has happened to you, but I can assure you that you're safe here. Would you mind telling me your name?"

"Uh… that's a good question." I avert my gaze for a moment, not needing very long to search my empty mind for an answer. Awkwardly putting my arm down, I let out a small sigh. "Actually, can't recall my name."

"I see." She says softly as I look back at her, but she isn't looking at me.

I follow her gaze, finding it directed at my hand. On it, there's a symbol of three small triangles made into the formation of a larger one. I look up at her, hoping she would know something about the strange mark. Maybe if I learn about, I'll remember something, anything about me. "Do you know what this symbol is? I'm not sure why you're so interested in it."

She stands, extending her arm towards me. "Please, follow me."

I nod, taking her hand to help me up. Leaving the room, she leads me down a large spiral staircase made of smooth, grey brick. From there we go through countless halls with elegant décor that are stretched tall and wide with a long red rug in the center, the walls having something hanging on every other open spot. Some of these are portraits of women dressed in elegant dresses or men dressed in various styles of regal-looking armor, while others are detailed paintings of various landscapes, all of them seeming to be done by the hands of master artists.

Admiring all of these beautiful pieces of art and the detailed architecture, I'm almost left behind by the Princess. She leads me through a pair of double doors to another long hall where we head up another flight of stairs. Every once in awhile, we'd pass a man in armor that would bow to the Princess as we'd pass. She would wish them a good day and such before continuing on, which makes our walk seem that much longer.

After a few more halls, two flights of stairs, and a dozen soldiers, we reach the outside where there's a breathtaking view of the land below. Before us is a fairly good sized town with people appear as small as ants as they go along with their daily lives. Though that's pretty amazing, what I really find magnificent is the land that lies past the brick incased town. Nature as far as the eye can see; a large field, rivers, lakes, and trees surround the land, dying the land in beautiful greens, blues, and browns. It feels as if I've never seen so much green, but then again, I have no memories to recall.

I reluctantly turn away from the view to see the Princess patiently waiting for me. I flush, not thinking it proper to make royalty wait and quickly return to her side. She stays silent as she climbs another large staircase while I slowly trail behind. When we finally reach the top where tall pillars stand, I find us to be in a large room where a long carpet leads to a pair of elegant thrones on the other side. It's all so beautiful, but something troubles me. _I wonder where the King and Queen are. I haven't seen anyone except the soldiers and wouldn't there be at least one of the two in the throne room?_

"Do you see that statue above the royal thrones?" She points to the carving high above us. It's the same symbol on that lies on the back of my hand with three stone women on each side of the statue. "The symbol that rests on your hand and shown above us is called the Triforce. The Triforce is a power that the three Goddesses bestowed upon this world and my family has been protecting for several generations. Various times in our land's past, the ancient power of the Triforce has been taken by the hands of evil. Whenever that occurs, a Chosen Hero arises baring a mark similar to your own to protect the Triforce and restore peace."

"So there's trouble coming upon your land?" I ask, finding it strange that the story seems oddly familiar. Familiar to what, I'm not quite sure. "And I'm supposed to protect the Triforce?"

"Yes, that is what one should presume. Though, it is strange how you arrived here."

"What do you mean?"

"Before I tell you, why don't we have a meal? It's almost sunset and you were asleep for quite awhile. I'm sure some food in your stomach will be satisfying." She leads me back the halls we came with even more guards roaming around in ease.

_This is so strange, how that Triforce story seems so familiar, but how can it be familiar? I have nothing to reference it to. And I thought there's supposed to be trouble brewing, but from what I've seen, even the soldiers are very lax. Maybe my arrival during a time of peace makes my appearance weird._

After roaming more halls and climbing more staircases, we finally enter a long dining room. In the center of the room is a long wooden table, a long cream cloth with golden ridges draped from one end to the other. Between every third chair are candles lit while they rest in golden candleholders. Above it hangs an elaborate chandelier made of crystal; it seems so fragile that if I make one wrong move, it'll crash to the ground below. I have to stop for a moment and take it all in. Every inch of this castle is decorated so elegantly that I feel uncomfortably out of place.

The Princess walks to the head of the table where there is food set for two. As she sits, she motions me over with a welcome smile. I quickly walk to her side, taking the seat to her right. "You must be famished. Please, eat."

I nod, hesitantly taking a bright red apple out of the bowl of fruit in front of me. Being in a place like this, I really don't have much of an appetite, but I feel I should eat if only to please her. "Princess, please tell me about how my arrival seems strange."

"Well, you see, no more than two years ago, our land was saved from an evil called Ganondorf who had tried to take over the land with a power barrowed from a realm called the Twilight. The Hero who saved us from a wicked fate was a man named Link from the Ordona Province." She smiles with a whispered sigh. It looks as if she's visiting a good memory in her silence before she returns her attention to me. "According to the legends of our land, only one tragedy befalls us every few generations and therefore, the Hero appears only during that time; never before has there been a time where there were two in a single generation. Furthermore, you are the first known female Hero. All the others prior to you that we know of have been males."

"I see… I guess that is kind of weird." I look down trying to absorb the information while my already small appetite is slowly lost. "Are you sure that I'm a Hero and not just some random girl? I mean, there must be others with this mark, right? Others who aren't the Hero?"

"Yes, there are others with this mark. I am one of the three of this generation that has been granted a piece of the Triforce by the Goddesses." She begins to take off her left glove, revealing a mark near identical to mine; the only difference being that there're various other markings surrounding the triangle. "There are only three per generation that are born with this mark, each representing a different side of the Triforce. I am the one representing wisdom; the Hero, Link, represents courage; and the last represents power, who was the one called Ganondorf. It is told that every time the three marks appear, the one who represents power becomes strangely deformed and obsessed with taking over the land to increase there own power. Since you are neither deformed or bare other markings like mine, it's logical to assume that you bare the part of the Triforce that represents courage."

"Wait, if there're only three people per generation, then that must mean I come from another generation? But that doesn't make any sense…" I try to decipher the puzzle laid before me, but struggle to make sense of what I've discovered. It's all so confusing and yet it's so simple, which makes it even more confusing.

"I'm sure that the Goddesses will reveal your fate to you in due time." She stands from her seat gracefully, finished with her light meal. "If you're finished, I will have someone take you back to your room. I advise you to awake tomorrow prepared for the journey ahead. I have someone I would like for you to meet."

_Someone for me to meet?_ I watch her leave as a black haired guard comes to my side. I stand up with the want to be alone, though I have barely have touched my food. It's not like I was very hungry in the first place anyway.

He leads me down the same path that the Princess had lead me through earlier with the many hallways and stairs. Traveling through all the elegance is overwhelming; I don't know how the guards can walk down the halls everyday so calmly. The castle's elegancy is nearly too much to bare.

He leaves me alone in the room that I had awoke in just a few hours ago after giving a respectful bow and closes the door behind him. I thank him and just stand at the door for a long while. Eventually, I move to the window and sit in a stool, just gazing out at the world below. It makes me wonder what's out there. I take peace in the momentary distraction from the thoughts of me being a Hero, along with everything else I've found out.

I stay there for a long time, watching the land as the sun moves in its predictable path through the sky. When the sun is nearing twilight, I let out a long sigh as I stand, gazing once more at the outside world before turning to my temporary quarters. I walk over and plummet onto the silk bedding mentally exhausted. There's so much that I don't know that I can't clarify and it frustrates me as much as it drains me.

_If this land has already been through times of trouble, I wonder what I'm doing here. I mean, there has to be a reason for me to not have any memories and be here. I wonder where I came from anyway. It's not like I just came out of nowhere; I must've come from somewhere, but where could that be… I just hope I can get out of this castle soon. It's too fancy and gives me a bad feeling in my gut; as if a bad memory wants to arise, but reluctant to show its face. _Sighing as I pull the pillow towards me, I rest my chin on its soft fabric while my mind ties to deal with the hurricane of thoughts that continue to circle. _I should get some rest before my brain cells commit suicide from thinking too much…_


	2. Chapter 2

So, if you're an already annual reader rereading these earlier chapters, you might've already noticed that I changed the last chaper quite a bit to make it slower and more descriptive since I couldn't stand the way I wrote it so quickly before. Anyway, I 've been doing this with a few other chapters as well, but don't worry; the changes I have been making are minor and don't alter the story plot at all, so you don't have to worry about things popping up out of nowhere c:

Tell me how you like the changes. Is there anything that needs more detail or something? I'm all ears! c:

I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd love to hear what you have to say!

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The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 2

"Excuse me." A deep, muffled voice and a hard knocking cause me to stir enough to wake me from my dreamless sleep.

"Just a moment…" I groan with a yawn, blinking my eyes rapidly as I readjust to the morning light shining through the window. I look over at the door where I see a shadow stretching out from the other side of the thick wooden door. I sigh as I sit up and extend my stiffened arms above me for a moment before standing. I walk tiredly over to the door, feeling as if I hadn't gotten any rest in the first place.

Opening the door, I see the same guard that led me to this room yesterday standing there with an unreadable expression. "The Princess wishes to see you in the throne room as soon as you're ready and dressed. She has laid out a new set of clothes for you while you were asleep."

"Yes, I will hurry. Thank you." I bow slightly as I close the door to turn away. I let out another sigh and lean against the door as I zone out, gazing out the large window across from me._ New clothes? When did she set those out? I don't think they were there yesterday…_

For a moment, the room is dark, as if the world has been eerily painted in the various shades of red and black. The elegant silks are now torn apart, shredded so much that there's barely anything left of them; even the walls are falling apart, paint peeling off nearly all exposed areas. What makes my heart pound the fastest is the sight of bars on the outside of the window that make me feel like a caged bird. Though the sun's still in the same position and I haven't moved a step, I feel like I'm in a completely different world.

I gasp as the feeling of fear, causing my body to tremble and feel numb. The air is thick, suffocating me with its ominous density. As quickly as the vision came, it fades from my sight to return me to the elegant room filled with a much brighter light than the one of my vision. _I really need to get my head checked. I have no memories, yet everything seems familiar. And then I have a creepy… well, I guess it was a vision, but I don't even know where that came from! Is that even normal?_

I walk over to the window to the little stool that sits beside it, looking down at the clothes that lie on it for a long time before taking off my own to change into them. They're very different from the clothes I was wearing before, yet a little similar. The garbs I was wearing yesterday was a pale green vest that has faded to a grayish green with a dirtied tunic of similar color and some kind of thin under armor. The clothes laid out for me are much more relaxed and brighter. It's a cream tunic that comes down to my mid thighs that's decorated with a simple green line that traces along the edges. The sleeves are short and under the tunic, I wear a plain collared, white long-sleeved shirt and a new thin chained under armor as well. I put a brown belt loosely hanging on my hips. I have the same shade of light green on my trousers as my tunic. The final pieces of the outfit are brown boots that end right below my knees and cream arm guards with green trimming.

_Considering what I was wearing before, I guess the Princess must've sent for something that she thought I would be more comfortable with than her elegant dresses. Not that I can fit in them anyway. I don't need to attempt to fit into one of those dresses to know that my chest is a bit… smaller than hers. Plus, she said that I had to be "prepared for the road ahead." I suppose this person she wants me to meet will be taking me somewhere._ Taking another look at myself, brushing the creases out of the fabric, I nod with content. I actually kind of like this outfit, despite its weird color pallet. _Well, wherever this person is taking me, I'll be ready._

I open the door again to see that guard standing there patiently, waiting for me to finish dressing. Feeling regretful for taking longer than I should have due to my episode with that vision, I follow him silently down the corridors that I'm slowly becoming accustomed to; the elegance still overwhelming to me. I can tell that whoever I was in my past, I definitely wasn't royalty. This castle has way too many shine and glamour for my taste, even if it is beautiful.

Just as yesterday, we travel back and forth through countless halls of paintings and portraits, needing to climb an incredible amount of stairs. I don't know how anyone can guide themselves through here successfully. Give me five minutes alone and I'd probably be lost, never to be seen again.

My guide stops before a familiar pair of large doors; the ones that lead to that beautiful view of the kingdom and the throne room. "Right through this door, miss."

"Yes, thank you, sir." I return his formality politely and go through the large doors alone. After my gaze is caught by the shine of the kingdom below for what seems like eons, I turn to my left and start on my way up the mountain of stairs. _I wonder why there's so many stairs in this place. Well, I suppose it's one way for the Princess to stay in shape. I don't think she exactly gets to go many places else._

I stop behind the entrance to the throne room to see the Princess talking to a dirty blond man, whose more blond than dirty, wearing a green tunic and armor on his forearms. I hide near a pillar by the entrance, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. I study the swordsman instinctually, amazed by his shield and elegantly purple hilted blade; both seeming as sturdy and powerful as they are beautiful, but I can't say that the most beautiful thing about him. _He has really pretty blue eyes; wild and proud like a lone wolf… He looks about as old as the Princess; I wonder if he's the Princess's lover. They look like a match made in the heavens. I wonder what they're talking about._

"She has no recollection of who she is or where she came from, but she bares the same mark as you and was wearing the clothes of a foreign warrior when I found her. I gave her fresh clothes that I assume she'll be comfortable with and still would be prepared for a fight. From what I've seen, her instincts as a swordsman are still well in tune and she doesn't completely trust me yet." She tells the man, making me realize that this must be that Hero she was telling me about yesterday. I wonder why she is speaking so quietly about me in my absence. Maybe I shouldn't trust her like she said. "I want you to take her to the Light Spirit Eldin. I saw him carry her safely down from a strange portal in the sky; nothing like the portal to Twilight. He'll be able to explain to the girl what she is doing here better than any of us can."

"I'm sure Eldin delivered her so close to your castle to make sure she was in good hands." He smiles brightly, but it soon fades; his tone suspicious. "Have you told her about Eldin yet?"

"No, but I'm sure she doesn't need to be told just yet. It's too soon. She's probably having a hard time absorbing the information I handed to her yesterday. I don't want to give her more than she can handle."

"Yes, but I'm sure she'll be fine if you tell her when she arrives." He says and I begin to enter as if I heard nothing, not wanting much more to be spoken about me behind my back; or rather, right in front of me. "If she's going to—"

The Princess motions for him to stop as her gaze is focused on me. He looks back at me as well with a friendly smile, though I'm not sure I should believe it. Somehow, I sense that he's very pure in intention and hearing that he was fighting for my favor, I guess he's not an enemy. The Princess smiles and greets me with friendly words, "Good morning, I presume you slept well."

"Yes." I say with my guard growing. _I don't think I should trust her as easily as I did yesterday… She's been hiding that bit of information from me and I don't think she plans on ever telling me._

"Link, this is the girl I told you about. The one with the mark similar to your own."

He keeps a friendly smile that continues to grow brighter. "Hello, my name's Link. The Princess has asked me to take you under my wing as my apprentice if you would kindly agree."

"Apprentice?" I look over at Princess Zelda with a furrowed brow. _That wasn't what they were talking about a moment ago. Are they trying to confuse me?_

"Yes. Link is an experienced Hero chosen by the Goddesses like yourself. I thought it would be wise for him to train you and teach you the skills he has learned that only the Chosen Heroes can learn. Would you like to become his apprentice and learn these skills?" I look between them for a moment, looking more at Link than the Princess. I get a feeling I can trust him more than her, probably because he's a Hero like I supposedly am. I nod and the Princess smiles immediately with content, "I'm glad to hear it."

"Miss, we'll be beading out into the Eldin Province to begin our training as soon as you're ready." He smiles with gentle eyes staring strait into mine. For a moment, I feel the inner me shutter with sporadic as my face begins to feel warmed by more than just the sun, but I soon shut that off. It scares me to think that I could be so weak-kneed over a man I've just met. Besides, I'm sure the Princess has already taken up the spot in his heart that I cannot fill.

"I'm perfectly ready to leave at any moment." I say trying to overcome my latest obstacle; an enemy called 'hormones'.

"Then let's get going." He says before turning to the Princess and giving a proper bow. "I swear to take good care of her."

"I have no doubt of that." She gives a soft smile to him before he turns away and leads me out of the throne room to familiar stone halls of overwhelming elegance.

We find the exit from the castle with ease, this man seeming to know his way through the castle as well. We walk out to what seems to be a large garden with beautiful greeneries, guards standing at either side of the large pair of doors before us. As we walk through, the two men bow to us while wish us a safe journey. _I guess I'm the last to know of the journey I'm about to embark on. Even the castle guards know more than I'm supposed to know._

Walking out of the gates of the castle, we walk across a bridge to where a brown horse with a white main and tail stands waiting. Link turns to me with a leather handgrip in his brown gloved hands. "This is Epona, my loyal steed and good friend. She doesn't take a liking to many people riding her outside of those she's accustomed to being with in the Ordona Province, but I'm sure she'll warm up to you soon."

"Well, hello, Epona." I slowly let out my hand towards her with my palm faced down. "I hope you won't mind me riding on your back for a little while. I swear I won't be harsh to you."

She whinnies as she sniffs my hand and moves around me, as if wanting me to get on. Link smiles with a small chuckle, "You sure have a way with animals. Not many people have such an immediate liking from Epona."

"Should I get on?"

"Go ahead." He offers help in getting on and I hesitantly accept his offer, though I find I don't really need it. I discover that my muscles already know how to get up and how to sit comfortably; it's as strange as it is convenient.

For a moment I have another vision, this one of a bloody battlefield where choked screams can be heard all around me. Everything moves so quick that it's hard for me to process what exactly is going on. All I can really tell is that I'm riding a horse into a forest while the sound of something chasing is close behind.

All of a sudden, Link's voice pierces through all the other yells and pounding hooves. "Miss, are you alright?!"

"Oh, uh, yeah." I snap out of it and fall back into myself to see that it's only me, Epona, and Link at the entrance of the castle. I put my hand on the back of my head, scratching nervously and let out a little laugh to quickly cover up my episode. "I just though I saw something. I guess I'm just hallucinating."

"Are you sure?" He grabs my wrist and makes me look into his eyes that seem to bee strait through me, as if seeing through my disguise.

I don't let him see this bother me. I refuse to as I laugh it off, "Yes, I'm fine. Let's get moving before we lose too much more daylight."

"Alright." He brushes it off with a friendly tone as if it was nothing and calmly takes the hand grips from me. "I'll lead you through town on foot. Just keep an eye out for petty thieves. I hate to say it, but there's some people like that in Hyrule Castle Town."

"Right." I nod, not able to say much more. _I wonder what that look was a moment ago… It was there and then it was like he never looked at me like that. Is he really as friendly as I think he is or is he hiding something?_


	3. Chapter 3

Liking the descriptiveness? I've been working really hard on it, so if there's anything you see that I can imporve upon, please comment and bring it to my attention c:

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd love to hear what you have to say!

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The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 3

The bustling of the early morning merchants chanting their songs of sales and children playing near the fountain at the center of what seems to be the town's square distracts me from my thoughts momentarily. I smile feeling relieved from my stress by hearing the laughter of the children, but it soon returns when I see another statue of the Triforce towering above the center of the fountain in the center of the town square.

_It's hard to believe that less than two years ago, there was a dark power trying to take over such a lively and happy place. I wonder what it was like. Was it like the vision I just had? Was it bloody with lifeless bodies lying around everywhere and people running, trying to hide from death? Nah. I suppose if it was, there would still be a good amount of tension in the air._

"Link!" A woman's voice calls from my right, snapping me out of my out of tangent of unanswered questions. I look over at an alleyway on my right to see a shapely woman, with darker skin than most others I've seen, coming out of its dark corners with a warm smile. "My, I haven't seen you in this part of Hyrule in weeks, sweetie. And you're wearing that tunic again… That must mean that Princess Zelda must have called you for another _mission_, right?"

"Telma! You know it's not like that between us!" He blushes with an annoyed frown.

I giggle just as a thought crosses my mind and gives me a bit of warmth in my chest. _It's not like "that" with them? So that means it's a one-sided relationship? Oh, no. I'm definitely not letting myself get caught up in drama when I have a land to save. Though it seems like the only thing it needs "saving" from are overpriced goods…_

"I know, sweetie, but I can't help it. After all, you can be quiet a charmer." She winks with a happy, bellowing laugh. "Anyway, how has Ordona been treating you lately? I'm sure Ilia's been much better since her amnesia cleared up."

"Ordona's been peaceful, as it always has. Nothing to worry about except the production of the crops. We've had few new babies added to the herd this season." He smiles, probably thinking about his people back home. I smile as I imagine what his home, Ordona, looks like; it's probably beautiful. "With the children grown up a little bit, they've been trusted to have a little space. It's much better than when they first returned. Back then, hardly anyone would leave them unattended."

"I'm sure. And how have you and Ilia progressing?"

"Like I've said before, there's nothing between us. That phase she had has passed." He rolls his eyes with a sigh. "Besides we're just childhood friends. Nothing more."

"Well, I'm sure you'll meet that special one soon enough." She gazes past him, spotting me with a wide smile. "And who is the redheaded beauty? Is this the special one you've been waiting for? She looks awfully familiar."

I feel my face burning once again when those words leaves her mouth, my heart pounding insanely from the thought. I force myself to snap out of it before they can notice too much. I don't want to be fuel for this woman's teasing, even if it is cute to see Link blush like that. _What am I thinking?! I've just met this guy! I shouldn't fall for someone so quickly; it's pathetic!_

Link shakes his head with his face a bright shade of red, which makes me wonder what he could be thinking. "Telma, this is my apprentice."

"Oh! I remember! You're the girl that was found in the Hyrule Fields by the Princess yesterday!" She realizes with a bright smile. "No wonder you look so familiar!"

"So I've been told." I smile feeling nervous. I had a feeling that my arrival here wouldn't go unnoticed, but I sure wish it had. _Unfortunately, it looks like my arrival wasn't very subtle…_

"Well, you, my dear, need to keep your eyes on this one. He might be the Hero of legend, but he attracts women everywhere he goes." She chuckles as a devilish twinkle shines in her eye as she leans closer towards me with a hushed voice. "Princess Zelda was once smitten with this handsome young man here, but he turned her down some time ago. So let me tell you a secret; if you want to win his heart, you still have a chance."

"Telma!" Link exclaims with his face as red as a fresh tomato, obviously hearing her… words of advice. Link takes the reins in his hands and begins to lead us away into the crowd, not looking back at Telma as he says, "We really must go now before the sun gets much further in the sky. I'll see you again sometime."

"Bye bye, love birds!" She calls as he hurriedly leads us through the crowd to another street where I can no longer see her, but I can still tell she has a devilish smirk on her face.

I look down at Epona, shamefully repeating her words in my head. _Love birds? W-We're not… No! Stop it! Why can't I stop swooning?!_

Trying to distract my thoughts, I look around at the various shops around us. There's shops offering basic supplies, food, and other such things, but what catches my eye is a large creature selling… water? It's a strange being with strange markings all over their yellow skin, each having curved back that seem to be made of rocks. In his hands is a sign advertising a shop selling water on the southern side of the town. I find it weird that a creature that seems to be made of stone is selling water, especially when it's such a common thing to have. Who in the world would want to sell water?

With the market being to overly crowded, I can tell that Link is trying to kindly fight his way through the crowd to the large gates at the other side of the street. It seems like the amount of people only increases as we slowly inch closer. Eventually, we find an opening in the crowd that we quickly dart through to reach the gate. The guard standing there wishes a safe journey as well before we pass through the gates to cross over the bridged waterway.

I look on breathlessly, amazed by the vast open area. The fields that I saw from so far above before are even more stunning down here. The sun shines beautifully on the dew soaked grass, making the field seem as if it's twinkling as a soft wind pushes the blades to dance. I take in a deep breath of the cool, crisp air with a smile. It's all so amazing…

As I turn towards Link to say something, but stop myself. Despite the hair covering his eyes, I can tell that there's something off about him. He's not smiling. Even his aura seems to be giving off a sense of… sorrow?

I frown, holding my tongue. I don't like him being so down and I know I should say something, but I don't know what to say. I don't have a clue as to why he's so down. _Maybe it has something to do with what Telma said. Maybe about the Princess? Or even that Ilia girl? Maybe something happened…_

Link says nothing for awhile as he leads us west. The silence seems to go on for forever. When I looking at him once again, finding that he still seems a little down, I frown. I don't like it at all.

With a quiet breath, I slowly give in to my curiosity and say, "Hey, Link, this may not be my place to ask, but why did you reject the Princess? Is it because this Ilia girl?"

He doesn't look at me, instead gazing out towards the field ahead of us. "No, I just didn't feel the same way about either of them as they had felt for me."

_Well, that's not why he's down._ I frown. _What could be so saddening that he would be like this for so long?_

"The fact is," He continues, much to my surprise. I swore he wasn't going to talk for awhile longer since I did asks a bit of a personal question, "women tend to take a liking to me quickly and I've never felt the same way as they do for any of them."

"So you're gay?" I say without much thought before covering my mouth quickly; as if it would help. _Oops…_

"No way!" His hands shoot up defensively as he looks towards me. He obviously seems a little creeped out, so it makes me wonder what image he had just thought of in his mind. "I can swear to the Goddesses that I'm strait! I just haven't found the right girl yet…"

"Oh! So you're waiting for _the_ _one_?" I smile at his sweet intent. I should've known that he was the type to wait for someone special. I figure the mention of the girls who weren't disheartened him. _He's such a sweetheart!_

"Please, I…" he blushes turning his gaze away from me. "It's not something I wish for many people to know."

"Aw! Come on! There's nothing wrong with that! It's adorable, really." I smile widely as he looks back over at me, a light pink still painted across his cheeks. I can't help think how cute he is when he does that. "I'm sure you'll find her soon enough. You never know when _the_ _one_ will show up."

"For a girl with no memories, you sure are wise."

"Nah, not really." I say with a blush, chuckling lightly. "I mean, I can't really be that smart if I can't recall my own past. It's more instinctual thoughts more than anything else. I guess that's called critical thinking, right?"

He laughs with me for a moment before looking up at me gently. "You'll be a fine swordsman."

"Thanks!" I say happily, proud for being praised. _It feels like I've always known Link when I'm talking to him like this and laughing like this. And it makes me really happy to be praised by him. I guess it won't be so bad not having memories. I'll just make new ones that I can look back at with a smile._


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, this is the chapter where the real action begins. How? Well, you'll just have to read and find out! XD

Anyway, as usual, I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 4

"Hey, Link, should I call you 'Master Link' since I'm your apprentice?"

"There's no need for you to be so formal. Just call me Link." He smiles, his mood much lighter since when we first left town. "Though we should find a name to call you since you can't remember your own."

"Yeah, at least until we reach—" I stop myself he as a strange pounding is heard behind us. I turn back, my eyes widening as the air is sucked from my lungs. An armored monster is coming up at full speed on what appears to be a giant lizard creature. "Link!"

"Look out!" Link jumps on Epona in front of me with the reins in hand. He quickly makes her start running at full speed, which almost knocks me off. It an attempt to stay on, I wrap my arms around Link's waist. "Hold on tight! I'll get us out of here!"

"Where did that thing come from?!" I yell looking back at the odd creature. It looks to be slightly larger compared to us, yet still having a humanoid-like anatomy despite looking so strange. The monster doesn't slow down or stop, but instead speeds up to catch up to us and stays right on our trail.

"I don't know, but let's not find out." He glances back at the creature before urging Epona to go faster.

We travel around in attempt to lose the thing, but with every turn we make, it's quick to follow. As we pick up speed, so does it. Whatever it is and wherever it came from, it's obvious that this thing isn't following us with blind rage. It's clearly after us for whatever reason. I tighten my grip, fear beginning to leak into my mind. I don't want to find out what this creature wants with us anytime soon.

"It's alright." Link says, causing me to look up at him. As he glances back at me, I can see a smile on his lips. "We're going to be okay. We'll lose this thing in no time."

I nod, believing in his confidence. "Right."

Epona runs until the suns nearing the horizon and despite Link's encouragement, I can tell she's running out of juice fast. I look back to see the monster close enough to get at with a blade.

My heart races as the images of Link being hurt arise in my mind. Instinctually, I take Link's blade from its holster on his back and turn towards the creature. I know that I have to do something, anything to protect him; even if we have just met. With the emergence of a strange instinct, I follow it, rolling off of Epona. I hear Link yell for me not to, but I ignore his warning.

I continue rolling around the speeding creature until I'm at the lizard's back. I quickly jump up launching the blade under the armor, angling it at the creature's heart before it can turn to attack me. It screams in a high octave as it squirms bitterly as it dies and slumps off the lizard's back.

The lizard stops and begins yelling as it flails to throw me off. I hold on tightly, seeing Link looking back at me stunned. I smile and nod as I jump off the giant lizard's back. It growls at me, moving from side to side with a malicious glare in its yellow eyes. I tempt it to come at me while leisurely moving Link's blade around, finding that it feels oddly powerful in my hand. It makes me feel strong.

The lizard thing launches itself at me, aiming to bite my face of. I tuck and roll to the side, nearly avoiding the angered creature. I stand quickly, jamming the blade into its throat where it screams while flailing, making the injury much worse for it. I slide up and through the rest of its neck, its blood splattering as I do.

It flails for a long time before coming to a dead halt and slumping to the ground. When the two creatures explode into puffs of dark black and red smoke, I jump back startled. It takes me a little bit to realize what I had done as I look at the blood on the blade, oddly not disturbed. _That was strange. It felt as if that was normal. It was like I was in one of my visions, but it was all real. What's going on here?_

"Whoa…" Link begins to pull Epona around to me with a look of astonishment. "How did you learn to do that?"

"Fight? I don't know." I look up from his now bloodied blade. I find it a shame that such a beautiful sword has been tarnished by blood. "All I really did was follow my instincts."

"That's not what I mean." He dismounts from Epona, his mouth still partially gaped. "How did you learn to do the Back Slice?"

"Back Slice?" I cock my head to the side as I stare at him puzzled. "What's that?"

"What you just did." He explains still a little perplexed. "It's a hidden skill that was taught to me by the Hero's Spirit. Only the Chosen Heroes can successfully learn and execute that move…"

"Well, if you put it that way, then I guess we now know for sure that I'm a Hero." I hand him his blade, the blood strangely already gone as if it was never there in the first place. "I didn't really think when I did that. I just kind of… did it."

"I think I have a name for you now." He puts his blade in its holster before looking at me with a gentle smile painted on his lips. "Azra."

"Azra…" I repeat it to let the strange name settle on my tongue. It's a pretty name, yes, but it doesn't seem quite right. I suppose since he gave me a name he thinks is suitable for me, I'll make it fit. Besides, I kind of like it; though I guess he could give me the ugliest name in the world and I'd still like it. "I'm sure this name will due until we reach that spirit you and the Princess were talking about."

"So you were eavesdropping." He smirks as if proud of something; I suppose proud of himself. "I thought so. I guess you heard why she wanted to keep it a secret from you?"

"Yes and I can absorb a lot of information very quickly without too much strain."

"Obviously. I'm surprised that you're so calm after everything that you've experienced these past couple days. You haven't even begun freaking out over just killing something, especially when you had done so, so naturally." He says with a bit of suspicion.

"It's probably similar to the conditions that I lived with in my past and I'm just accustomed to it." I say petting Epona gently. "We should stop and set up camp. Epona seems to be very tired from running so far, so suddenly."

"Yes, that seems like a good idea." He takes the hand grips. "There's a small lake a little to our north. We can set up camp there."

We travel to reach the small lake that lies not too far from us, but this time I travel on foot beside him. When we reach the lake, I find that even though it's not the biggest lake in this area, it certainly is one of the prettiest whilst the sun's fading rays of various colors of the sunset dance along it's surface.

Somehow, being able to sit here in such a large open area makes me really happy, yet something feels off. There's really nothing to fear out in this area and yet I feel nervous. Part of me tries to reason that it's probably just my nerves going in a belated shock from killing that monster from earlier, but I know it isn't because of that. I felt too calm at that moment for there to be a reason for me to go into shock now. Just so I have something to blame it on, I settle the matter by thinking that it's because I'm alone with a boy in the middle of nowhere, even though that's not it. He's waiting for his soul mate and won't do anything to me even if I wanted him to.

"Azra?" Link's voice makes me snap out of my dazed thoughts. "You alright? You've been really out of it today."

"Sorry, I just keep going on tangents of unanswerable questions." I laugh nervously. "I'll try to restrain myself from further distractions."

"No, that's fine." He starts to construct a small fire with ease. "It's perfectly fine for your thoughts to be wondering. I'm sure I would be that same way if I didn't have any memories."

"So you think it's normal?"

"Yeah. It's not like you have any real knowledge of who you are or where you came from, so you have nothing left to do, but wonder." He smiles softly at me and I look away not wanting to get caught in his gaze, but I look up at him a second later to get caught in it anyway. "Hey, if you think I can answer any of your questions, go ahead and fire away. I'll try my best to answer."

"Really?" I smile excitedly with my face feeling warm. "That'd be great!"

"No problem, so what do you want to know?"

"Well…" I glance away for a moment, looking down at my mark and looking back at him, the fire shining beautifully in his wild blue eyes. "What was it like for you? When you found out you were a Hero, I mean."

"I didn't know what to think." He looks off to his right, his eyes hazed as if he was remembering all the trials he had to overcome. "When I discovered this, people from my village had been kidnapped and I was willing to do anything to save them. When I knew there were safe, I wanted to end whoever had endangered my people and prevent him from doing that to anyone else. I guess I was happy to be the Hero, so I could save my friends, but I was scared, too. I was afraid of failing everybody, but I knew I had to dismiss that fear. I knew that if I wanted to protect my people and the others in Hyrule, I had to be brave. Sorry if I rambled. I hope that answered your question well enough."

"No, that was perfect." I smile. "I'm glad you told me so much, because I don't know what to think either. Since I don't really have any memories and I don't know anyone too well, I don't have any particular person to protect from whatever's coming to cause trouble… Does that make me heartless?"

"No, not at all." Link comes around the fire and sits next to me. "You just don't know who you are yet, but I'm sure that will be cleared up when you see Eldin. He'll explain everything to you."

"It just seems so strange that I've lost my memories… Do you think he took my memories on purpose? Can he even do that?" I sigh and put my head on my knees. "There are so many questions that I want answered, but I don't know who can answer them."

"It'll be okay." Link puts his hand on my shoulder, causing me to look up and see a pair of beautiful blue eyes smiling back at me. All of a sudden, I feel nervous, yet relaxed at the same time. "Eldin will answer everything that I can't answer. Just try not to strain yourself in the mean time."

"Alright." I sigh impatiently. "How long will it take to get to him?"

"If we leave in the morning, we will make it by noon."

"Okay, I think I can manage to not kill myself from lack of answers by then." I laugh jokingly and he laughs with me.


	5. Chapter 5

Like that last chapter? Well, of course you did, right! Otherwise you wouldn't be reading this right now, would you? :3 lolz

Now, as per usual, I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 5

"I'm going to fetch some more firewood before the fire gets too low to rekindle easily." He stands and begins to walk to the east. "I'll be back soon."

"Alright." I watch him leave and I let a smile rest on my lips before I shake it off. _What's with me?! Why does he make me so nervous when he gets near me? Is it because he's so kind and handsome? I wonder what he sees when he looks at me…_

I go over to the lake and look at my dark reflection, the fire and stars being my only sources of light. I have medium-length hair that's a mix of a light brown and dark red, blue studded earrings on my pointed ears, and pallor skin tone. My eyes are a similar color to my earrings; light and glossy. _I think I might just be eighteen. Somewhere around there at least… I look too young to be more than twenty, but I'm nowhere near as beautiful as Princess Zelda. I shouldn't be thinking about him like the way I am._

Epona whinnies a warning and I look back to see what's wrong. I gasp and start calling for Link as I pick up his purple hilted blade. More monsters like the one I defeated earlier are speeding towards us on fast giant lizards; some lizards armored and running without riders. I jump on Epona and start in the direction that Link had traveled. When I see him not too far away, I urge Epona run faster to gain some ground. "Link! We need to get out of here!"

"What's going on?!" He says before he pays attention to what's behind me and I can tell in his eyes that he sees the dust clouds that are speeding behind me. His eyes are focused on the monsters behind me, a mysterious emotion shining in them. As I lend my hand out to help him up as Epona continues to run past, but he passes by my hand and grabs his blade. "You go on ahead to Kakariko Village, just continue on south; Epona should know the way. I'll catch up to you soon!"

"Link, don't!" When Epona continues on, I watch in horror as the creatures riding the lizards surround him. I make Epona stop, feeling panic in my heart, afraid that he'll get hurt. "Epona, we have to back! Link won't have a chance against those things unless he has you to help him! Please, Epona, we can't just leave him to fight against all of those things on his own! He'll die!"

She whinnies as she turns around, racing back to Link. I smile with a tear in my eye. _Thank you, Epona._

As we ride, I find something is annoyingly sticking into my hip. I grab it to find that it's a sword holster and with quick curiosity take out the blade to find it more tarnished than Link's other one. I attach the holster to my belt as I urge Epona to go faster, thankful that I had found it in the first place; now I can actually help him compared to running to safer ground. With the distance lessoning, I can see that Link has destroyed at least half of the group of marauders, but he's breathing heavily and I can see that his skin is glistening with sweat, even in this dim starlight.

Epona dashes around them and I slash as many as I can which she tries to make a clearing for us to get to Link. _There must be at least fourteen of these guys left. I'm sure I can finish this easily with Link's aide. Even if he took down the Twilight, I doubt it was any degree of an easy task._

"Azra, I told you to go to Kakariko Village!" He says seeming a little angered while he heaves his blade into the chest of another monster. "It's dangerous here without a blade!"

"I got that covered." I smirk as I slash the throat of a lizard lunging towards me, shortly taking down it's ugly rider. I don't take my eyes off the monsters, but make sure that I keep one eye on Link. "Fighting with a blade seems to be instinctual to me, so I couldn't let you have all the fun. Besides, I trust you more than anyone else I've met so far. I don't want to leave you to die."

He smiles with a chuckle as he slashes through another monster. "That's the Hero's Spirit burning inside you. You'll make a fine Hero when your training's complete."

"Thanks! Should I consider this my first test?" I laugh as the last monster dies at the hands of my blade. I look over at Link and giggle, proud of myself. "So, did I pass?"

"Good job." Link smiles walking over to me, his breath becoming a little more evenly paced. "You're a lot stronger and flexible with a blade than you look. That's something you should use to your advantage in future battles."

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind." I dismount from Epona and look at Link with a gasp. "Link… your arm…"

Already aware of his injury, he holds it, trying to stop the bleeding, but I can tell he's already lost a good amount of blood. I feel my heart sink, sad that I couldn't get Epona to turn around sooner. He grunts when he tries to raise it and looks at me apologetically, as if he had done something wrong. "I'll be fine. I can bind this here and in the morning, we'll visit the shaman in Kakariko Village after we visit Eldin."

"No, before we visit Eldin." I frown stubbornly. "I should've stayed when you told me to leave. Then maybe this wouldn't have happened to you."

"It's fine. I've experienced worse pain in my life; this is just a mere scratch." He takes out some medical garbs to bandage himself up with and no matter how hard he tries to mask it, I can clearly see he's wincing. He sits down and begins to assess his wound.

I take the supplies from his hand and he looks at my puzzled. "You're not going to be able to bandage yourself on your own; I'll do it. Pull up your sleeve."

He nods compliantly and begins to remove his gauntlet and armor as I kneel in front of him. I have to focus on making sure the cut is clean before I wrap it up. _It's already begun to clot, so the bleeding shouldn't be going on much longer. I'll just have to make sure that he rests tonight, that way he doesn't pass out tomorrow._

I pour some water into a cloth and begin to slowly clear the dirt and dried blood away, Link wincing every once in awhile. When it's all clean, I take a garb and beginning to wrap his arm slowly, making sure that I don't hurt him as I do.

"You're a natural." He says softly, probably not aware that he just said that out loud until he immediately turns the shade of a fresh tomato.

"Thanks." I smile, finishing the binding tightly, but leaving it loose enough for the cells to breathe. "It feels as if I've done this before. Maybe I was a shaman in training with a little bit of a swordsman's life-style?"

"Seems like it." He laughs lightly. "But I don't think there's anywhere in Hyrule where someone needs to live that kind of life. The land has been at peace for nearly two years."

"Maybe I come from somewhere where I was taught how to treat the injured and came from a swordsman's family. Like a family who had a tradition of every generation serving the royals of wherever I came from." I try to make sense of what's coming naturally to me. I shrug my shoulders, giving up in explaining everything.

"Anything is possible." He smiles, seeing my confusion. "There are lands outside of Hyrule that are yet to be explored. Maybe you came from somewhere out there."

I roll down his sleeve and I stop when I see the back of his hand. I look at my hand in comparison. _But the why are there two Heroes in one generation?_

"This mark is the same as yours." He says lifting his arm so I can see both marks in the same direction. "The mark of the Hero. It's a heavy thing to bear, but you'll be fine. All others that have come before you, including myself, have been able to handle the responsibility and power that comes with it."

I put the back of my hand on his, our marks now touching. It's strange, but at the same time, it's nice. Instead of being alone like all the Heroes before me, I have a companion; someone to look up to and guide me. I don't have to bear what ever burden meant for me alone. I have a friend to stand beside me.

Becoming aware of what I'm doing, I snap my hand away feeling flustered. I search for something to say before he can say something. "Do you think it's bad that I know so much instinctually and how I've arrived here so mysteriously? Does that me that mean that the evil I'm supposed to conquer is stronger than in past generations?"

"If that is true, then that means you're stronger than all the past Heroes have been." He smiles confidently. "Either way, I believe in you and I'll help you through it all. We heroes have to stick together after all. The world wouldn't still be here if it wasn't for people like us."

"Thanks, Link." I smile feeling a little more calmed after hearing his tender words of support. "I'm glad I have a friend like you. I'd hate to think of what it would be like if you weren't here."

He only smiles and begins to put his gantlet back on. "Let's rest. We'll take turns watching for more enemies."

"I'll take the first shift. You need to concentrate on getting rest to recover from that wound."

"Right." He smiles lying down on his back. "Good night, Azra."

"Good night, Link." I smile looking off into the distance, trying not to distract myself from my watching duties. _Stronger than all the other past Heroes? Could that be why my memories are gone? No… That seems like to simple of an answer. There must be something more._


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, so I've re-edited this chapter for two main reasons (which are very closely related, but not quite the same).

One, it was _way_ too _short_! It didn't even reach my quota (which I set at about 2300 to 2500 words minimal)! It barely met the halfway point of either of those! Now, with such much needed editing and beefing up, it has finally surpassed the high end of my minimum be a little over 100 words! Yes, I know there're a few others that don't meet that minimal quota and I will be working on those very soon, I'm just going in order and I'd have to say that this was the worst of the batch.

Two, I needed there to be more _subsidence_. There was way too little that occurred in this chapter, which is supposed to be a little bit more… shippy in a way. It just didn't do it for me when I went back and reread it. I think this is mostly because of the fact that I tend to rush through some chapters to get to ones that come later. I've been working on that recently, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem from now on.

I hope you guys like the changes I've put in here! Oh! Do you guys have any tips on how I can write flirtatious scenes just a little bit more accurately? This rewrite might be better than before (in my opinion), but definitely not the best. I can tell that this chapter is going to be rewritten many times until I get this right, so please tell me how to improve this even further! I'd really appreciate it! c:

And now, I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd really love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 6

"Link, get up!" I shake him wildly while trying not to hurt him in the act. He only moans, rolling over onto his other side in his unconscious state. I sigh getting really annoyed after trying to wake him up for the past five minutes, doing everything that I can that wouldn't cause him harm, especially with his injured arm. I look at Epona who stands beside me with an understanding glimmer in her eyes. "Does he always do this whenever he has to wake up?"

She whinnies, shaking her main in the motion of a nod. I sigh with a small smile spreading across my lips. A slight giggle passing through them, though I'm not sure why; I just feel a happiness bubbling inside of me. I walk around him at see his face peaceful as he falls into another dream and I feel my annoyance deplete most of the way. _Okay, Goddesses, you win! I'll admit it! He's adorable! Even when he's sleeping… but please help me wake him up so I can get to Eldin!_

I wait a moment, hoping that Link would wake up on his own. Impatient when my prayers go unanswered, I turn to Epona for some much needed advice. If there's anyone who would know what can wake him up, it would have to be Epona. "What can I do? He's sleeping like a rock! Don't you know anyway for me to wake him up? We can't just leave him here or wait for him to wake up on his own; and he's certainly not going to sleep on your back until then. I don't have the slightest of clue to where Kakariko is."

She comes to his side nudging him slightly, causing him to inch slowly west. I watch as she slowly prods him closer and closer towards the lake that lies less than a meter away. I let a devilish grin settle on my lips as I try to hold back a laugh, not wanting to wake him before the deed is done. It might be a little cruel to just let it happen, but if it means that he'll wake up, then I can get over it. We don't have much time to waist and I kind of want to see how he responds to this rude awakening.

I follow Epona's short trail and wait at the edge of the water while Epona nudges him to a mini hill over the water. I snicker as she gives him one more well deserved push, forcing him to tumble into the water. Within a second of crashing into the slightly deep lake, he jumps up and out of the water with a yelp. For a moment, I don't think he knows where he is; the only sure thing being that he was just pushed into a lake. "Hey! What's the big idea?! That was freezing cold!"

Epona knickers in her foreign laughter and I giggle with her, amused by the show that was put on. I never thought anyone could look so lost and confused when they first woke up, but what I just witnessed was priceless. "You should've gotten up when I asked you to before Epona started to wake you up."

A blush spreads across his face as glares at his stead. "Epona, how could you?! I thought you said you wouldn't do that again!"

She continues to whinny in laughter. I shake my head at the two, grabbing the handgrips and start to guide her over to Link, who's trying to dry himself off. "Well, this is enough horse play… no pun intended; but we should be able to get to Kakariko before sundown, right?"

"Yes, we'll make it with plenty of daylight to spare." He puts his ringed out hat on his head. I look at him slightly surprised, seeing that he's already mostly dry, except for hit face and hair. As he goes to grab the handgrips and I pull them just out of his grasp. He looks at me with a raised eyebrow, crossing his arms to give a slightly amused smile. "I thought you said no more horse play."

"This isn't horse play. You're riding Epona so you don't strain your wound." I say firmly, motion him to get on. In my mind, caring for the injured comes before chivalry.

"That wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me to let a lady walk." He smiles as he gets on, turning towards me with an offered hand. I stare for awhile amused. He sighs while keeping his smile as he motions for me to take his hand. "Let's ride together. It'll be faster that way."

"Alright." I take his hand shyly, awkwardly get on behind him. It feels strange for me to not be the only one riding Epona. It kind of makes me think of yesterday when we had to flee from that monster, actually, but I can't complain. The memory isn't a really bad; and, I mean, he was chivalrous enough to not only appeal to my wishes, but to his as well. "I can see why all those girls like you. You know how to treat a lady right."

"Why, thank you. I want to make sure I'm able to do that when I finally meet that special girl." He smiles back at me at the compliment I gave.

"Well, just make sure you don't scare her off by treating every girl the way you treat her. If you treat every girl the same, she'll get jealous." I advise, somehow knowing some faint knowledge of the complicated workings of the female mind. "You'll need to treat her like she's extra special and not just another girl; but I'm sure you'll have no problem with that, _Mr. Womanizer_."

"Hey!" He laughs. "It's not like I try to."

"But I bet every man wishes that he could say that and be telling the truth." I giggle.

He laughs one last time before turning away from me, Epona suddenly throwing herself back onto her hind legs. I quickly wrap my arms around Link's abdomen again to prevent me falling off, my face burning as I cling to him knowing either he or Epona did that on purpose. "Hold on tight!"

"Whoa—_ahhh_!" I yell as Epona takes off in a brisk sprint faster than she has ever run before. It takes me by surprise for a moment, but I quickly adjust to it, the speed strangely feeling familiar to me. I dismiss the thought as I focus on holding on just tight enough to not tumble to the racing ground below.

We race south down a twisted path filled with lush grass and grand trees as far as the eye can see. It's amazing how beautifully vibrant the colors of green are. If we weren't going at such a high speed, I bet I would be able to pick out every little leaf on a single tree. My breath is taken away once again as we enter another open area, gaze around to see what I can at this speed, most things becoming blurred figures of various shades of mostly green and brown.

After a few moments of staring out at the blurred scenery, I look at Link to say something, but I stop, suddenly struck silent in my amazement of his angelic features. His hair is really stunning the way it shines in the sunlight, racing through the breeze so simplistically to settle so perfectly around the frame of his face. It's quite perfect how his bangs stay so kempt as the blustery winds run through it, but it's nothing in comparison to his wild and beautiful eyes. Maybe I'm hallucinating, but his eyes seem much more brilliant when he's looking at me; they look lonely when he looks at someone else. _I wonder why they shine at me and not others. Maybe because I'm the strange other Hero?_

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm crazy for liking him so easily, yet I can sympathize with myself. He's sweet, kind, handsome, and incredibly brave; something I guess every girl wants in the man of her dreams. I suppose what that Telma lady said was right and knowing that he's waiting for the right girl, he's set up to be a heartbreaker. _Maybe I'm just trying to feel special and setting up this little fantasy in my head. Don't know why I need to when I'm apparently a Hero, too. You'd think that would be enough…_

As the minutes silently pass, I look up at Link again to see a content smile painted on his face as he focuses on nothing in particular; I'd say the road ahead, but that doesn't seem quite right. Seeing him so happy, for whatever reason that might be, I begin to feel happy, too. It's as if he has this magical effect on me that makes me feel a thousand times better if he's in a good mood as well; as if he can control the atmosphere with a single smile. It's just as strange as it is calming.

With this good mood settling my troubled thoughts, I begin to feel the effects of the extensive night watch shift I took. I realize that my body is lacking a sufficient amount of sleep to continue going like this and that I'll pass out through exhaustion if I don't force myself to stay awake. Even as I keep that thought in mind, the wind racing around me begins to sound much like a lullaby and I'm forced to hold in a yawn.

I hesitantly tighten my grip around Link's strong, muscular waist and lay my head on his shoulder, feeling my face flushed as I do so. I don't think I should be leaning against him like this, but at the same time, it's not like I'm meaning anything by it… I'm just sleepy. There's no deeper meaning than that.

"You tired?" Being so close to him, I can feel the movement of his shoulder muscles; I can tell the he's looking back at me. I only nod slightly, choosing not to look at him in fear of him having a negative gaze. At the same time, I don't think he is. His tone wasn't offended; it seemed more concerned than anything else. "You did watch all night… I should've taken a shift."

"It's fine. I slept enough while I was tended to in the castle." I look up at him and smile for reassurance, still subtly surprised that he didn't scold me. Instead, he appears worried for me, but I don't want him to be so concerned about me for something as frivolous as this. "I'll be alright. I can just rest my eyes without sleeping so I don't fall off."

Suddenly, Epona slows down dramatically, so much that I almost bang my head into his neck. I look up at him a little confused as to why we hindered our pace so much. "We're really close to Kakariko Village, so we don't have to push Epona to run like she has been anymore. If we stay at this slower pace, we'll still make it there before noon reaches us. Go ahead and get some rest, I won't let you fall."

"I'd rather not. It's nice to actually speak to you and not listen to your heavy breathing." I joke with a small giggle, feeling much more awake through being startled by Epona so suddenly. "You know, you're really easy to talk to."

"So are you." I can hear the cheerful tone in his voice and I smile, feeling special. "It's nice having someone other than Epona that understands me."

"Someone else?" I look at him slightly puzzled, not seeing the logic in the statement. "What about your family? They should understand you well enough, right?"

"Actually, my parents died some time ago, I don't really remember how since I was so young." He says calmly, but his tone is clearly troubled. It makes me feel guilty for asking such a delicate question.

"I'm so sorry…" I say with a nearly hushed voice. _I wonder if I have a family… or if they're gone like his are…_

"No, don't be. I'm fine." His tone is much more even now.

"If you say so…" I try to hold my tongue and not pry too much more. "What about your friends? It sounds like you sure have a bunch of them."

"Yes, I have many friends; all over Hyrule, in fact." He starts, but his tone isn't very bright. It worries me. "Even then, it's not like many of them understand what it's like to lose their parents so young or how it is to kill to save the people most precious to them; not in this era anyway."

"I don't understand how that makes me any different." I look at him concerned, thinking I shouldn't have said anything. I shouldn't be prying as much as I am, but I can't stop now. I want to find something to help him feel better again. "I don't have any such memories, so I don't know what it's like either."

"Yes, but there's something about you that makes me feel otherwise." He looks back me with a smile. "You're special."

"Oh, really?" I raise a tired eye, needing to hold in another yawn. "And why's that?"

"I'm not sure. You just are." He smiles sweetly at me. "Now, let's focus on getting you to Eldin. We'll be there soon enough."

"Right." I say as I rest my head on his shoulder again. _I wonder what makes me so different. Is it because of my mark? What else could it be if it's not that?_


	7. Chapter 7

Alright, so we get into some heavier plot points in this chapter, but you do learn some interesting facts about my OC. :P I wish I could tell you, but you'll just have to read c:

As usual, I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 7

"Azra… Azra, wake up, sleepy head." I hear Link's melodic voice and slowly raise my head with my eyes beginning to adjust to the blinding light. "We're here."

"Huh?" It takes a moment for me to see that we're at the entrance of a village wedged between the sides of two steep mountains. There's no one out, except for us, which I find is weird, but I decide to focus on the question of how I got here in the first place. After I'm fully awake, I realize that I had fallen asleep. "How long was I out?!"

"Not too terribly long." He says with a small chuckle. "Since you were up all night, I didn't want to wake you until the last possible moment. You shouldn't be lacking on so much of your sleep or you won't be able to defend yourself sufficiently in a fight."

I blush hoping that I didn't snore or anything else embarrassing like that. Seeing his shoulder dry, I let a sigh of relief out, happily taking note that at least I don't drool. Looking down at his arm that was bandaged, I can see that it has continued to bleed through the bandaging since yesterday. "Link, we need to get to that shaman!"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." He looks forward and points to a large building by the lake ahead of us with his unharmed arm. "That's the shaman's house right there. No need to panic."

_Why not? You're injured and bleeding for the Goddesses sake!_ I frown, hoping that he would pick up his pace now that I'm awake.

As we near the house, a girl who seems to be in her early teens walks out of the shaman's house with a small basket in hand. Her short dark hair frames her face beautifully as she scuttles over to the large spring, beginning to pick some weeds and pile them into the simple woven basket. She seems so innocent. She notices us and runs over with a smile, forgetting her basket by the lake. "Link! What're you doing all the way out here?"

"We need to see the Light Spirit Eldin." He smiles before showing her his arm. "But as you can see, I need to pay a visit to your father first. We had a bit of difficulty getting here."

She gasps and begins running back to her house yelling, "Father, Father! Link's here and he's injured!"

"At least I'm not the only one who sees this as a problem." I say to Link as he dismounts. I watch him for a moment before he offers his hand.

I take it, easily reaching the ground below, but I begin to stumble as I take a step forward, falling right into him. He thankfully catches me and as I look up at him, I feel my cheeks burning in my embarrassment. He just smiles down at me, "Careful. We don't need you to get injured as well."

"R-Right." I nod as I regain my balance. After a moment of guaranteeing my hold on the concept of balance, I begin follow close behind him towards the house. _Great, now I'm turning into a klutz… How much more weak-kneed am I going to get over him?!_

"Link?" A man with long brown hair steps out of the shaman's house and approaches us. He looks at Link's arm suspiciously, and then gazes suspiciously back up at us. "Would this be an injury from exchanging blows with each other?"

"We were attacked by a few monsters." Link's face changes from a light smile to seriousness. It takes me back how he can become so solemn with just a few small words. The way he handles this is so… regal. It's amazing.

"Monsters? Those should have disappeared years ago." He frowns, obviously troubled by the thought of such a thing. "Come. First I need to treat that wound of yours and then we'll talk."

"That sounds like a plan." Link agrees as the man walks off, starting towards his house. He turns to me with the same smile he had moments before he started talking to the shaman. "Come on, let's not make them wait. Epona will be fine if I leave her here."

"Okay." I nod and slowly follow him into the house. Immediately, the girl from before drags him to her father where he has some medical supplies set out.

For a moment, I just stand in place feeling a little awkward and out of place as the three move around so freely within the area; I on the other hand, feel like I'm within a small box that's continuing to shrink, slowly crushing me. I watch as he sits down in front of the shaman and begins to take off his gauntlet, carefully rolling up his sleeve. He then looks at me with a smile, motioning me to come over.

I sit next to Link and the man, watching as his dirtied bandages are removed. I see that the wound is still far from healed, as I expected; the blood nearly dried in most places, but it's red and puff in others. A frown settles on my lips as a twinge of guilt rushes through me. _If only I had gotten there sooner…_

"Hey, I'm okay." Link smiles at me, wincing once as the shaman sets a wet cloth on his wound. "It's just a scratch."

I just smile, nodding back at him, which makes his smile grow just a little wider. The man takes his time cleaning the wound of the crusty blood while the girl, addressed as Luda, is sent out to fetch some lake water. She comes back quickly with a small bucket of sparkling water. The man soaks a rag in the water and rings it out gently, the water twinkling unusually as it splashes. When the rag touches the wound, it begins to glow brightly with a soft yellow hue. Soon, when the strange light dims down into near disappearance, I see that the cut is gone; not even a scar left behind.

"Whoa…" I look at the bucket of water in awe, still wonder what in the world I just witnessed. _Amazing._

"This is blessed water from the Spring of Eldin. It has magical healing qualities as do the other Spirit Springs. Unfortunately, when taken from its source, the water slowly begins to lose that magic, so we must always work fast." He explains as he lets the rag drape over the side of the bucket. He looks up at me with some curiosity. "I don't believe we've met before. I am Renado, the shaman of this village, and this is my daughter, Luda. What is your name?"

"Well, that's a question I was hoping to get an answer to." I laugh nervously, not quite sure if I should be telling him this. He seems nice enough and Link seems to trust him, so I suppose it's safe enough. "For now, I guess just call me Azra."

"You don't recall your own name?"

"That's what brings us here so suddenly." Link says as he finishes readjusting his gauntlet. "She was seen delivered to the outskirts of Hyrule Fields by Eldin. We were hoping that he could explain to her why she's here and why her memories are missing."

"I see." He looks at me, as if studying me to see if there's something specific about me; something like my mark. I find myself being thankful that the back of my hand is out of his sight; not sure if my status as Hero should be publicly known about yet. "Then I'll leave you two to your mission then."

"Yes." Link stands, bowing to the man. I follow his lead, making sure to keep my hand discretely out of sight. "Thank you for healing my wound."

"Anytime." He says as we exit the building. I try to refuse the urge to look back, a nervous feeling bubbling within me. _Did he see my mark? I don't think it's something that should be made public… Not yet anyways._

I follow Link as he walks to the spring that lies close to Renado's house. We only need to travel a few meters to get to the edge of glistening water, much clearer than another body of water I have seen so far. He steps into the water, beginning to head towards the center; I stay hesitantly at the edge, unsure whether I should follow or not.

Somehow, I'm starting to come to terms with what's about to happen. This is where everything I know, however little that might be, is going to change. This is where I won't have to guess about my past and be innocent to the knowledge of whatever is going on. I won't need to guess about what my mark truly means or what role I play in the larger picture of the events that are about to or have been taking place. It makes me second guess whether I'm good enough for what the Goddesses need me for.

Link turns to me after a moment of not hearing my footsteps following him. He lends out his hand to me with a gentle smile. "It's fine. You don't need to be afraid."

I shake my head. "I'm not afraid, just nervous."

He only nods, as if in understanding what's going on in my mind, and leads me a few feet into the shallow spring. I stand behind him, wondering just what exactly we're supposed to do next; wondering just how we call Eldin. All of a sudden, as if answering my thoughts, a bright light begins to form the shape of a strange bird with a ball of light in its claws. I stare in awe, knowing that this figure is faintly familiar to me.

Link bows before the creature in respect. "I've brought this girl to you, the same one you left in the Fields of Hyrule. She has many questions that she wishes for you to answer."

"I thank you, Chosen Hero." He says to Link before looking at me. His eyes seem as if they are peering into my very soul, seeing what truly lurks within my very being that I cannot see myself. It's intimidating, to say the least, but I try not to show it; I'd rather not offend one of the servants of light. "You wish to know your past, correct?"

"Yes. I want to know who I am, why I'm here, and why my memories are gone." I say, trying to not let his gaze faze me. I want to show that I'm strong, that I'm ready for whatever I'm meant to do. "And what this mark on my hand means."

"You are Nasia, the maiden chosen by the Goddesses to save the land of Hyrule from the darkness that's slowly overtaking it."

"But Hyrule doesn't seem to be in any danger at the moment. In fact, I don't believe there has been any threat to this land for some time." I point out skeptically. "So why would I be chosen to save the land that has already been saved? Especially when Link has already proven himself to be the Hero of legend?"

"You are not originally from this era, chosen maiden, but from one that still has some time to come. Your life was in danger and therefore, so was Hyrule. I had transported you back in time to save your life and protect the land of Hyrule from a devastating fate."

_Back in time?!_ I stare at him bewildered and stunned, not knowing if I can fathom such a tale. "I'm... from the future?"

"Yes. You come from a dire time where the Hero of Time wasn't able to be reborn." He explains. "Since the Hero wasn't able to be reborn as needed, the Goddesses had to find someone who had the potential of bearing the power of the Triforce as well to protect the land in his stead."

"So I'm the replacement?" I finish with disbelief. I stay silent for a long moment, trying to come to terms of who and what I'm supposed to be. It's hard though to imagine that this is really my fate. "What about my memories? Is there a reason why you had taken them from me?"

"It wasn't I, but the effect of going back in time, for you still have a ways to go before truly becoming the Chosen Hero. Your memories shall return to you in time." His figure begins to fade in a bright light as a shining amber descends down into my hands with the shape of the Triforce in the center. The little triangle at the top begins glowing red as the stone settles in my palms. "This is the Stone of Trials. For now, you need to gain the blessings of Light Spirits Lanayru and Faron. Only then will you be realized as the Hero and be able to wield the power necessary to defeat the darkness."

"The Stone of Trials?" I look at the amber mystified, then back at where his figure used to be to see that his light as disappeared. I sigh feeling bewildered by everything that was just thrown at me.

I stare down at my reflection, knowing that this is the face of the supposed 'Nasia' and that there's too many things I don't know about myself. There's too little to argue against what Eldin had just told me and a whole lot that supports it; the visions, my mark… and the fact that a Light Spirit just told me all of this makes it seem very probable.

Rubbing my hand against the cool surface of the stone, I continue to stare at the little glowing triangle, knowing that the symbol is incomplete without the other two that stand faintly below it. _Well, I guess I have two more "trials" to over come; as if this adventure isn't one big trial anyway…_

Link puts his hand on my shoulder, but I don't look at him. I'm too caught up in the though that I don't know what to do. Well, I do know what to do; I just don't know how to process it. This is what I wanted, to have my questions answered, but I never wished for this. I didn't exactly desire to be a servant of the Goddesses and save Hyrule. I just wanted to find out who I am, but it turns out I'm this powerful figure. I'm the other Chosen Hero.

"You're going to be fine." Link's gentle voice sooths my thoughts for only a moment. I look over at him, hoping he could help calm the storm forming in my mind. He smiles, possibly seeing the uncertainty in my eyes. "Let's head to Faron first. His spring is much closer than Lanayru's and I'm sure he'll have some more answers for you."

"Right." I mutter with a small nod, following him out of the spring water. I glance back at the apex of the spring for only a moment before continuing to follow Link. _It seems like my questions are only going to multiply with every answer I get…_


	8. Chapter 8

Oh, the Goddesses know how I hate this chapter! Loath it, in fact! Why? Well for the single reason that the file for it on my flash drive has been _corrupted_ about _three times_ in the past. At one point, I thought I had lost it completely, but, through some miracle, I recovered the document and saved the content (in a weird format on my word document, but, hey, at least I didn't lose _everything_ *knock on wood*). I don't know why my flash drive has a habit of eating my documents ever once in awhile, but I don' let it stop me from continuing with my work. c:

I edited this chapter for similar reasons as my last chapter. For one, it didn't reach my quota (at least being closer than the last one was). It still has a little bit to go, but I know that if I edit this one even more than I already have, I'd probably throw the computer through we window in a rage of frustration (Did I mention I hate this chapter? lolz). And two, it needed a little more… flare in a sense. It was way too dry and to the point for me and that's not what I like in my stories. I like there to be a bit more than just basic plot points c:

Anyway, here's your updated version of this chapter! I hope you all enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd really love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 8

"You're leaving?" Luda asks with a frown appearing on her innocent face, obviously disappointed. _Don't tell me she has a crush on him too… He really is a womanizer._

"Yes, we must be leaving for Faron Woods immediately." Link says to her kindly, his smile not fading. "It's of great importance that we move as productively as possible."

"You're setting off on another adventure, are you not?" Renado appears out of no where, exiting his house as he walks towards us. As if already knowing the answer, he hands me a small leather pouch. "I have a feeling this will come in very handy much later on."

I look at the elegantly simple pouch for a moment before taking it from him. It appears to contain a small glass bottle filled with a strange sparkling purple liquid. Curious, I hook the pouch onto my belt, and then look back at him. "What is it?"

"You'll see." He smiles, and then looks to Link, trading some kind of a look that I don't understand. It's as if they're holding a small conversation I can't perceive. "Take care of her. She's a special one."

"I planned on it." Link motions for Epona to head east, past the brightly sparkling spring where I had so many more questions than answers. He looks back at the two with a smile. "Thank you for all your help."

Renado wishes us luck as we begin to slowly grow faster as we travel through a twisted trail between the sides of two tall, mountainous crags. We stay in it for awhile before I see an open area at the end, soon finding that this twisted path leads us to another section of Hyrule Fields

I hold onto Link as I look around at the verdant scenery. It looks familiar to me, like everything else, but at least now I know why. _I wonder how much this land will change by the time my lifetime comes around._

To me, everything looks like a painting, a vague scene that I've seen before. Yet, I continue to have these grim flashes of the land where it seems like the sun is never seen and the grass is either a dead brown color or painted in ghoulish red instead of green. It chills me to the bone having these conflicting visions of beauty and war. It makes me fear for Hyrule's future; and mine as well…

I have to force myself to shake the disturbing visions off as we continue to travel southeast, not wanting to bother Link with them. He doesn't need to worry about these random visions I have, not when they exists for such a short span of time with no real meaning behind them; so I force myself to block out any bloody scene that starts to arise as I stare out blankly at the scenery around us. Each time I finally settle down enough to admire the beauty of Hyrule Filed, the things that Eldin had told me begin to creep up on me and another vision would race into my mind. It would be of the castle muddled and dark or of being chased like I had envisioned before, the same scenes repeating over and over until I can give every little detail in each of them.

After a while, we enter a forest that becomes more and more dense as we travel further and further into it. I look up through the trees above us to see the sun beginning to near twilight. "How much longer until we get to Faron?"

"If we continue through the night, we'll make it there before sunrise." He doesn't look back at me, clearly focused on guiding Epona through the thickening brush. "But with that ambush we had yesterday, it's not a good idea to be wondering through the woods at such a late hour. There's more of a chance to be ambushed in a forest than in the open and there would be an enormously less of a chance to escape with minimal wounds like we did before."

"So we'll be camping for the night again?"

"We have no choice."

We say nothing more as the night begins to creep in slowly behind us as we travel slowly further into the dense forest. When the moon is shining brightly through the tree leaves above, Link decides that we need to find an open area to set up camp; knowing the layout of the land, he finds one quickly. He sets up a fire with wood gathered from around us and I take care of giving Epona water from a nearby stream.

As I stare into the fire out of distraction, I find myself transcended into a different scene. Before me is a little brunet boy who looks as if he hasn't had a bath in a couple days asking me not to go, his sad blue eyes looking as if he's about to cry. I say that I must, but I don't know why. It's as if I cant control my own words as they're spoken. I find myself watching this event within my body without having any control over myself.

The boy hugs me tightly. I figure he can't be older than twelve due to being much shorter than me. "Just promise to come back alive… I don't want to lose you like Father!"

"You won't lose me, Tarin." I smile and hug him back, not sure how I know his name. Somehow, I can feel that he's precious to me, though I hardly remember anything about him.

"Nasia?" Link appears before me, snapping me out of my trance. I can feel myself beginning blush as I wonder how long he had been standing there while I was zoning. "You alright? You seem to be out of it a lot."

_Maybe I should tell him…_ I look at him, stuck in deciding whether I should or not. I smile, not wanting to worry him over something so insignificant. A vision is just a vision, right? "I've been having these… flashbacks occasionally. Nothing to worry about."

"So it's like Eldin said. You're regaining your memories; slowly, but surely." His gaze wonders away for a moment, then back at me. "What have they been of?"

"Ah, well… At the castle, for a moment, it was dark and in shambles. It was as if I was in a dungeon or something. Then the first time I was Epona, I was fleeing from a bloody battlefield and being pursued." I explain, remembering each vision in detail. "Just now, a little boy was trying to talk me out of going somewhere. I think he was my brother…"

"It seems like your time really is in deep peril." His face is grim and remorseful. I can see the pain in his eyes well. It makes me feel even worse for telling him, doubting my decision.

"Which means I need to get stronger." I clench the sword that I had used against the monsters in the ambush last night. "I need stop whoever's causing that pain as fast as I possibly can."

Link notices my fist tensing and takes his blade in hand, a smile settled upon his face. "Well, then we better begin your training. How about a lesson right now?"

"Absolutely!" I smile enthusiastically, my excitement bubbling within me. With out any haste, I take my sword out and raise it in front of me, ready for anything he throws at me. "Where do I begin?"

"Well, you already know one of the seven skills passed to each Hero, so why don't I teach you another one of them." He takes his blade out with amazing speed and results in a large gash in a tree to his left. I look at him beyond impressed, realizing that I must be able to do the same. "What I just did was a move called the Mortal Draw. It's a powerful surprise attack that will take down any opponent while they think they have the advantage. I think it'll suite you well, considering how those monsters underestimated you before."

I try to mimic his movement exactly, using my left hand as well, but it's awkward and uncoordinated, as if a child swung the blade in my place. I look at the difference between us and find a glitch in our training, mumbling to myself, "This is going to be harder than I thought… You're left handed and I'm right handed. I can't learn the same way…"

"That does seem to be a problem…" He frowns, then brightens up just as fast. "Just follow my movements with your right hand while I'm facing towards you."

"I guess it's worth a try." I put my blade back in its holster with a swift ching of the metal.

Again, I mimic the move, but I recognize it's still too weak to cause any real damage. If I use his move like that in a real battle, I'd be dead meat. With a sigh, I place my sword back, trying to analyze my action to find the glitch in it. I try moving my holster back a little more to see if that'll help even the slightest bit. I think this move is made more for those who carry their sword on their back, like Link, rather than those like me who keep their blade at their hip, but I know that I have to make this work. If I don't get this move, then I won't be able to be a true Hero, all of them before me apparently knowing this move and the other six as well.

Yet again, I pull out my blade with as much speed and power I can manage at this awkward angle. I look at a trees to my left and right to see a nice gash in the side of each of them. I smile to myself, proud that I've progressed and have begun to grow into my role. _I've done it; I've learned another skill! Just five more to go…_

"You're doing well." Link smiles at me. "I can just tell you're going to pass these trials with flying colors."

"I don't want to get that confident too soon. I still have a lot to learn, right?" I put my blade back, ready for the next skill. "What next?"

He chuckles an angelic sound that sends chills down my spine, it's so pure. "A little anxious, aren't you?"

"I can't waste any time. Whoever's destroying my land might be trying to find and kill me before I get strong enough to defeat them." I frown, not quite liking the thought of dying. _It would be pathetic if I die now. I've hardly begun my journey to become the Hero and I can't fail. If I do, then Hyrule will be doomed._

"I won't let that happen." He says with his majestic sword ready in his hand. "What about a bit of battle practice?"

I nod, a smirk settling on my face as I hold out my sword. "You're on!"

With that, we continue training; sparring to increase my speed in between each skill I'm taught and eventually execute with success. Even when I get tired, I keep going with the spirit to find and protect my brother driving me forward. I just know he has to be alive and I won't stop until I find him and more importantly, defeat the darkness threatening him and the rest of my people. In order to do that, I have to be stronger than anything that dares step in my path. I won't let anything defeat me. I can't let that happen again. I _won't_ let it.


	9. Chapter 9

By what I've seen so far, you guys are enjoying my character, Nasia, right? c: Some of you must be wondering when you're going to see some action, right? Well, we're almost there!

The plot has been set in motion and Nasia's fate is yet to be determined by her own choices. There's still battles to be won and challenges to overcome. There's still a long road ahead, but I hope you'll stay to see what fate has been chosen for her and Hyrule.

Thanks for all your support and I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 9

After our extensive session of sparring, we eat what Link tells me is an Ordona specialty, pumpkin soup. It's warm and sweet, but also chunky and hearty at the same time. Somehow, the taste warms my heart, as if there's something it reminds me of, but I can't exactly put my finger on it. Eating a few more spoonfuls, I can remember laughter; the laughter of my younger brother.

_I wonder how close am to Tarin. Based on the flashback I had earlier, I bet we're really close._ I finish the rest of my bowl without a word, thinking of how upset Tarin was when I was about to leave him. _I wonder what he meant by losing my like Father… Does that mean that our father is dead? What about Mother?_

Finishing our meal in silence, we take our dishes to the stream to wash them. With the campfire shining dimly in the background, I stare at my face as I clean my bowl of the scraps left in it. _In order to be fully recognized by the Goddesses, I need to get the blessings of Faron and Lanayru. I wonder what I must do to prove myself…_

"Nasia, is something bothering you?" Link asks with concerned hinted in his tone.

"Oh, nothing important." I look over at him with a half smile, getting used to saying these half-truths. I'm not really lying, so I don't think it's too bad. "I was just wondering about what I'm going to need to do to get the other two's approval as a Hero."

"Don't worry about it too much." He smiles, lending me his hand as he stands. "I'm confident you can overcome whatever's thrown your way."

_Really?_ I smile happily as I take his hand, not feeling as flushed-cheeked as I have been. "Thanks."

We head a short distance back to camp carrying our now clean dishes to pack with the stuff on Epona's back. "Why don't you get some sleep? I'll take the first watch this time since you stayed up all night last night."

"You sure you won't fall asleep on the job?" I joke sitting on the ground near the fire. "Cuz if anyone does come, I'm sure you'd sleep right through it."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" His face begins to glow a light shade of red. I giggle at how adorably childish his expression is. "I'd at least wake up for that!"

"I guess we'll find out." I laugh staring up at the trees above as I lie down. "But if I wake up to another ambush, you're so dead when I'm done with them."

"Oh, really?" He lies beside me. "Then I better defeat them before you wake up."

"You'd better." I laugh, looking over at him sticking my tongue out. He just laughs, amused by my childish action; I can't help smiling, too. After these past couple days of barely knowing each other, I'm glad that we can trust each other and joke around like this. It's nice considering the situation I'm in, having the weight of the world on my shoulders. It's comforting to have someone so kind helping me on this wild ride. "Hey, Link."

"What is it?"

"Do you really think I beat the evil I'm destined to face?"

"Of course." He smiles easily. "If I can do it, then you can, too. We are two birds of a feather after all."

"Right." I smile looking back up at the tree leaves hanging high above us. I can't help feeling at ease just talking like this. "One more thing."

"Anything."

"Do you have any thin rope?"

"Thin rope?" He looks over curiously, taken aback by my random question. "What do you need a rope for?"

"This." I take the Stone of Trials out of my pocket and stare at its beauty in the kindling of the fire. "It's not too heavy and I don't want to lose it, so I just thought I'd make it into a necklace. It'll be easier to keep track of that way."

He stands up with a small yawn. "I'm sure I have something that can suffice."

After a moment of searching through his things, he hands me a bit of rope and a small knife he used to make the soup. I sit up with a bright smile. "Perfect! Thank you!"

"Your welcome." He smiles and watches as I knot the rope in several places around the stone. I find it a bit difficult with the stone being so smooth and slick, but I do my best to keep a hold of it. Every other moment, I look up to see Link just watching me with a smile. I try my best to not flush as I continue my knotting. "You know, you're very clever."

"Clever? What makes you say that?" I make one last knot at the top of the stone, and then begin measuring the rope around my neck to tie. I try distracting myself so I don't look at him. It makes my heart beat so fast when I look into those brilliant eyes.

"Just how you think." He moves to sit behind me and gently grabs the rope out of my hands, making me freeze for a moment. "Here. Move your hair."

"Uh, okay…" I do as he says with my body now feeling tense and burning as his fingers barely graze the back of my neck. _And when I thought I was getting used to being around him… I was so wrong._

"That good?" He asks, his hot breath tickling my ear. I can only nod in response. He ties the rope, cutting the loose strands off, and then circles around with a smile. "Perfect."

"Thanks." I say feeling flushed while still able feel his lingering touch on my neck. It takes a lot not to look away from him. I feel so nervous when I know I shouldn't. I can't help it though. It's hard not to feel intimidated and mesmerized by someone so perfect.

"Now get some sleep. You're going to need it."

"Right." I agree as I lie down to rest my eyes for awhile, listening to the serene sounds of the forest, taking comfort in its peace. Feeling safe lying next to Link, I try drift off into a deep sleep with the stone sitting weightless on my chest.

After descending into a dark haze, I'm wake enough to find myself in a fire lit tent. I look to my right to see Tarin trying to shake me awake with a worried look imprinted on his face. "Nasia, Nasia! Wake up!"

"What's the matter?" My body rises alertly, hardly recognizing the voice. I look over to see a wide eyed Tarin beside me. _Is this another memory?_

He clenches my sleeve, his hand trembling like a leaf. "I can sense them close by. Very close. I'm scared…"

"It's alright." I smile and hug him gently, hoping to calm him. I don't care if I can hardly remember him; I can't stand having him be so frightened. "I won't let anything happen to you."

He looks at me with worry still haunting his eyes. I realize that I've seen that look in his eyes more than a few times before. This is a common occurrence; being in fear of something, that is. He has always been afraid of something, but always for a good reason. He knows the world that we live in isn't as peaceful as it had been in the past.

I rise without hesitation, instructing him to wait in the tent for the moment. Something told me I need to check things out, as if out of habit. There's something I need to do. I exit the tent, taking my sword from beside me and keeping it close to my side. I recall that I'm not alone. Tarin and I are apart of a clan of survivors and I am the leader; I have been for awhile now. I'm the one who leads and protects these people. _I don't know what's going on, but I need to alert the rest of the group._

I see that there are only two rows of dirtied tents leading up to mine at the head of the group and a rectangular space left in the center. I whistle the signal to head out, which sounds much like a bird call. Soon, the members of the group begin to quickly shuffle out of their tents, gathering their things and head to our horses with such amazing speed that I can tell this has been done too many times before. I don't know how I know the signal without memory, but I don't ask why. There's no time with my people in danger.

"Nasia, what's the problem?" A guy about my age with long silver hair comes up to me confused, but for some reason, I can't see the details of his face. It's strange. Why can't I remember him? Why _won't_ I?

"Tarin senses the enemy drawing near. We need to move out as smoothly and quietly as possible before they catch up to us."

"Why don't we stand and fight?" He argues, seeming irritated. "We could defeat them right here and now! We wouldn't need to run anymore!"

"Look, we can't risk the lives of the children." I frown disapproving his rashness and narrow sightedness. "And I can't leave our knights here to fight so recklessly. We'll be defenseless if we encounter other enemy forces."

"We can't continue running forever!"

"But right now we need to; we can't afford reckless casualties. Only when the Hero is revealed and fighting by our side can we do something so rash, you know that." I snap at him, finish packing my very little amount of stuff on my horse. My brother stands beside me, staring suspiciously at the silver-haired man. "Get moving. There's no time to spare."

"Right." His voice is reeking of annoyance as he walks off into the group of people and horses.

I help Tarin onto my horse and then get on with him holding onto the main of the horse tightly as he sits in front of me. I look back to see everyone ready to go as per usual. Each child in front of a man or woman bearing a sword on either their hip or back. Anyone without a child on the boarders of the group to protect the children.

The only reason Tarin rides with me at the head of the group is his inept ability to sense things around him. A faint memory flashes in my mind of a redheaded woman, who I faintly recall being called "Mother", telling us that the Goddesses had blessed him with such a profound power. A power that helps us protect our clan. If he didn't have it and there was no need for him to be leading with me, I wouldn't allow him to ride with me at the front like this. I'd have him with the other children due to the lead being one of the most vulnerable spots in our formation.

"Follow my lead." I instruct softly, yet firmly. I lead them through a denser wooded area in hope to be disguised in the lowlight of the full moon above painted in shades of red. Everything that I've seen so far has had that grim tint of red to it, making me wonder if it's reality or just my mind playing tricks on me. It fills my heart with grief and a bit of fear. Fear of the inevitable; the discovery of our little clan of resistance.

No one makes a sound as we continue on, not even the children. None of them appear to be sleeping like I would assume. Many appear to be younger, most likely between the ages of seven and twelve. One looks even younger than the rest; more towards the age of five. I figure that these children are well aware of the danger that exists and the importance of holding their tongues. Even though I'm impressed by their obedience, I can see the fear in their little eyes. They fear the worst, like the rest of us. They don't want to be caught by the enemy. None of us do.

I notice that Tarin looks up at me for a moment motioning to my left. I nod, motioning for the group to follow my lead, but as soon as we begin to veer away from the direction Tarin was pointing, flaming arrows are shot at as from all around, a couple barely missing me and my horse. _Damn it! They've found us!_

The younger children begin to cry and hold onto the horses tightly as we speed off; our fears beginning to become a reality. I lead them through the thick brush in hope of losing them. After a few minutes of the chase, we're forced out of the forest and I look back to see that we still have everyone in the group. Then I hear the high pitched, monstrous screams. I look further back to see those familiar armored monsters from before. I only yell for the group to encourage their steeds to continue at full speed as much as they can.

"Sister, they're coming from all angles!" Tarin yells with tears in his eyes and panic fueling his system. "They don't have any openings for us to escape through!"

_So this was a planned attack…_ I growl, knowing that someone in the group must've been secretly working for the enemy and I know just who it could be. The man whose face I can't remember. The one that my brother showed an obvious distrust for earlier.

Dismissing the thought, I try to think of a strategy. I need to get my people out of here before someone gets hurt; especially my brother. "Tarin, you hold on tight! I'm going to have to make a hole in their defenses."

From that moment on, I can only remember the screams of my people as some are captured and others killed. I continue fighting, racing around like a mad woman as I try to protect my people. It's all a haze. Every once in awhile, I get a vision of blood and bodies. The bodies of both human and monster. Every time it flashes, it's etched into my memory. The last thing I can remember is Tarin's screams as we race into the forest, very few members of the group following us.


	10. Chapter 10

Okay, with the word amount reaching my quota, this came in second with Chapter 6. This was a mere 1400 words! Barely a hundred more than Chapter 6! I can't believe that I let this come to pass! Though I know it was due to the fact that I wanted to get to writing Chapter 12 and Chapter 13, which I thought to be pretty epic at the time (and still do), it's still no excuse! I really hate it when I look back to find that my chapters have such a tiny word counts because that means that I didn't put enough subsidence into them and that just won't do! Especially since I kind of want to be an author some day… Man, do I still have a long ways to go until then :/

I hope this edited version flows much better than it did before and expresses much more emotion as well as Nasia's coming to terms with her fate. I think I made this a little bit shippy before (and it still is… kind of?), but I don't believe it was very good.

For those of you who are rereading this, do you think that I did a better job this time around? I hope so c: I'd love to hear whatever advise you have for this chapter because I know this isn't going to be the last time that I edit it c:

Now, I hope you all enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd really love to hear what you have to say!

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The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 10

I wake up in a cold sweat with tears streaming down my cheeks. The memory flashes through my mind again with every little detail coming into perspective. The monsters, the fear, the death, the betrayal… the fact that I was helpless to stop any of it. I wasn't able to do anything except run, trying to keep the few that could keep up with me. I was a powerless to do anything except run; but if I stayed, then I would've died, too. That just makes me feel worse. I was such a coward to save my own life. _No, that's not true. I tried my best; I tried to protect my brother, not me. I did all I could… and that wasn't enough…_

It takes me a long moment after settling the disturbing facts in my mind to realize that Link's frightened and worried eyes are staring widely at me. He's kneeling beside me, his hand on my shoulder as he tries to snap me out of my frightened trance. "Nasia, what happened?!"

"I couldn't save them." I continue to cry as I sit up, trying to wipe them away, but they only continue to fall. There were so many bodies; so many dying screams. "There was an ambush… and-and…"

I can't find any words in my tears with the shrilled scream of my frightened little brother still fresh in my mind. It tears me apart to know that I failed not only my brother, who seems to be the only remaining member of my family, but my people as well. At least half of them must've been killed, including children… There was no mercy in that attack. Those monsters, whatever they were, wanted us all dead for one reason or another. They must've known about Tarin's ability and stayed just far enough away. That silver-haired must've told them to, those monsters wouldn't be smart enough to plan something like that on their own.

Link holds me close to him, trying to comfort me. I feel ashamed and weak for crying, but I can't stop with the thought of my people dying while I was unable to help them when I'm supposed to be a Hero… I'm supposed to be able to _protect_ them.

"Shh… It's going to be alright." He whispers gently as he caresses my back. I can't express how comforting his voice is right now with how soft and angelic it is. I can tell that he's concerned for me and he wants to help. "Can you remember anything about the ambush? Anything specific?"

"Uh…" I try to stop my tears, but, much to my distaste, they only continue to fall. "I was trying to clear a way for the rest to escape them… but it gets fuzzy after that. I can only remember their screams… and the bodies… there was so much blood…"

He quickly takes off his gauntlets and begins to wipe my tears softly away, trying to hush my tears. I start feeling flustered from him being so close to me, my heart beating fast. _Why do I always feel this way when he's close? I can't think strait!_

For a long time he just stays there, staring back at me with a sad and remorseful look on his face. "I'm so sorry."

I gaze at him confused, my tears beginning to recede slowly, starting to get distracted from the horrid memory. "Sorry? For what?"

"If I had been reborn when I was needed, then you wouldn't have to go through all this pain like you are. You wouldn't need to bear such sadness." He takes my hand in his and gently presses his lips against the back of my hand. "This is supposed to be my burden, not yours. Please forgive me."

"It's fine… There's no need to feel remorseful. " I feel my face flushed, my chest feeling as if it's going to burst. "This is my fight. I should've been able to protect my people when I was tested like that. The one who should be apologizing is me… I failed them. I failed all of them…"

He looks at me seeming to have mixed feelings, but the one that shines through the most is concern; I can't tell what any of those other masked emotions are. "Nasia, I know you're going to need to do some things on your own on this journey, but please let me help you when I can. It's the least I can do for having to put you through this."

"Of course." I try to smile, not wanting him to worry about me. "I don't think I could do this on my own."

"And you don't have to. I'll stay by your side through all of this, no matter what." He hugs me again, seeing through my smile. "Please, lean on me when ever you need to."

"Thank you." My face begins to burn as I hesitantly wrap my arms around him. It's almost easy. He makes the pain numb enough to be put a little at ease, if only a little. It's amazing that he has this effect on me.

"Now try to back to sleep." He says melodically, his voice entrancing. "Have a better dream."

"But what about my shift?" I realize with a gasp, momentarily forgetting all about taking a watching shift. "I probably should take one about now. You shouldn't stay up all night."

"It's fine, you have a big day tomorrow. You're going to need your energy." He smiles to reassure me, though I'm not sure if I buy it. "I'll be fine."

"If you really say so…." I lie back down, not really wanting to sleep, but I don't argue as I tuck the Stone of Trials under my collar. I try not to linger on the memory of my people's misfortune for to long as I try to coax myself to even a blank sleep. I know I should get some rest, but I just feel so restless after that memory I relived to get any kind of shuteye; all I can think about is my people and pray that they made it through that awful experience. _Tarin… I wonder if you're still alive. You have to be…_

I try to reflect on what I've been going through these past couple days with Link in an effort to distract myself from the morbid memory I just gone through. Somehow, for all the time I've spent with him, it makes me feel a little special. I begin wondering if the shine in his eyes that I've seen for me or for finding a companion with a relatable past, as much as he seems to hate it at the same time. My mind tells me that I'm just overanalyzing it all and that I'm just a friend to him, a welcomed companion. All I really am is his replacement in the next cycle; but my heart… My heart wants more. It's selfish, wanting that smile all to itself. I want to never leave his side…

_I'm being so… Ugh!_ I let out a soft sigh in my frustration with myself as I try to fake my sleep. _I'm just being swooned like all the rest, that has to be it… Worst part is that I don't think he even knows he's doing it. He doesn't know how entrancing he is…_

That face, that hair, those beautiful shining eyes; that smile, his strength, and kindness… It's all of it; he has everything that any woman would want in a man. Even the way he looks at me and held me… It makes me feel as if I'm special in some way. Not just because I'm this strange girl baring a Triforce symbol on the back of her hand, but as me. As Nasia. It's as if all the world is at peace for the slightest of moments.

But it has to just be my imagination… He's waiting for his true love; his one and only. That couldn't possible be me. He has to be decades or even centuries older than me, being that I'm from the future; who's to say that we're were supposed to even meet in the first place? It could've all been an accident; something that even the Goddesses themselves didn't plan for. Besides that, I'd have to return to my era at some point, as long as I don't die before this ends, and he would stay in this era to continue his life as it should be. He's probably going to fall in love with some girl and have her bare his children before I'm even born; maybe his great-great-great grandchild would end up being one of my friends… It would never work out.

Who knows what would happen if we even tried, as if he would ever feel anything more than friendship towards me. Either of us disappearing from our original eras could destroy the delicate balance of time. Many people's lives could be changed in the reaction. Even my stay here is temporary; a short reservation scheduled in order for me to attempt to become the Chosen Hero and save my era from further destruction while being out of grasp of the darkness. That's the only reason why I'm here. The only reason we met is my inability to save my people on my own, not to fall in love.

_He'd never consider me… He's kind and compassionate, but I'm not the one for him. I'm too weak. Too vulnerable. I'm nothing more than his apprentice and friend. He'd never consider me…_

_-/~/~/~/-_

After my drawn out doubts and inhibitions that drown out the other worries within my mind, when I finally start to fade from consciousness, my body feels a faint rumbling that steadily grows stronger and stronger into a subtle thundering. I snap up and look at Link, seeing that he already has his sword in hand. _He must feel it, too. This is bad… not another ambush._

He stands unhesitatingly, urgently taking my hand in his, dragging me quickly to Epona's side. "You need out to head to Faron now before they get to us. _Now_."

"But what about you?! I can't leave you here!" I stare back at him feeling a pang in my heart. I begin to think of the morbid possibility that his blood would be spilled like so many of my people's. "You have to come with me!"

He only shakes his head, a sense of duty set in his features. "They'll only continue to track us and grow in number. I'll take care of this bunch and catch up with you."

"Didn't you say earlier that you would say with me?!" I argue, not wanting Link to get hurt again for my sake. Not wanting him to end up dead like my people. I would never forgive myself if he was to be added to the many that I've already failed. "You said that you help me through everything!"

"And I will. Right now, the best way for me to do that is to allow you the chance to escapse." He shushes me with urgency filling his voice. "For now, our paths must separate, but I'll meet you at Faron's Spirit Spring."

_No… No this can't happen. Not again!_ I frown, and then he makes me look at him. "Link… You shouldn't—"

"Do you trust me?"

I look at him baffled, not sure if I really heard what I just heard. "Huh?"

"Do you trust me?" He stares into my eyes with a flame of determination shining within them. I nod, unable to speak. He smiles serenely; it's almost enough to make me think it alright to flee. "Then go. There's nothing to worry about."

I hoist myself upon Epona's back with a frown, still concerned for him. I take her grips into hand and look at him with worry. I still don't like the idea of leaving him; it feels almost like I'm abandoning him. "Promise me you'll meet me there."

"I promise." He smiles again for me. "Now go before they get here. Epona knows the way."

"Right." I say as Epona starts to speed south through the brush. I look back, feeling a twinge of pain when I see Link standing at the ready, preparing for a fight. _Please stay safe…_

Soon, when the campfire glow is out of our distance, I hear the battle screams of those lizards and the human-like monsters. I force myself to continue, needing to look forward before I get the impulse to turn back to help him. "Come on, Epona. We need to gain some ground in case they have a second group tracking us."


	11. Chapter 11

I really loved writing and editing this chapter, mostly because you get to see Nasia fend for herself without Link's powerful aide. Gives her a bit of girl power (which I think was a little lacking in "Twilight Princess" where most of the elements of this story come from. Nearly all of the females in "Twilight Princess" just didn't do it for me, except for a selected few; but, as a special friend said, to each their own c: lolz). I try to make her realistically counter these actions considering how I know how her past is and what she has had to go through (and trust me, you will too if you continue reading on c: I don't see how or why you wouldn't, considering that this is the eleventh chapter and you've already invested so much time into reading the ten that came before this c: lolz).

I think I've done a pretty good job with this one since I've put so much love into it, but feel free to knock me off my high horse if you disagree. I like to get any kind of feedback that helps me improve my work c:

Well, I don't think I should keep you waiting too much longer, should I? I mean, you'd much rather read what's going to happen to Nasia next much more than reading my drabble, right? Right c:

I hope you all enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd really love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 11

With the sun rising above the dense forest trees, I find it safe enough to slow down after half a night of fleeing from an enemy that could be tracking me. I figure that if they haven't found me by now, then they won't be finding me any time soon. Epona's heavy breathing becomes steadily calmed as she slows to a walk. I frown, petting between her ears. _Sorry, girl… I didn't mean to push you so hard._

I sigh, beginning to worry about Link; wondering if he was alright. If he's not, I know that I'd never forgive myself. He's my only friend in this era, other than Epona. If I lose him, I lose not only my guide through Hyrule, but the only person I can trust as well and I don't like the thought of that what so ever. To never be able see that sweet smile or those bright eyes ever again; to never hear his laugh… I can't stand the thought of it, but I still worry. I want to believe in him, but I'm afraid of that slim chance that he could fail.

"Epona, you have that animal sixth sense, right? You think Link's alright?" I ask her, needing some reassurance and she's the only one available at the moment. She whinnies with the nod of her head. I smile happily, relieved by her faith. "You're right, I shouldn't worry so much. He was able to take down the Twilight after all."

_Man, I might have to see someone, if I keep talking to Epona like this._ I start worrying for myself, half thinking that I'm going insane. Then again, who's to say that I haven't already? I might as well just go with the flow.

"Why don't we stop for some water. You must be thirsty after all this running you've been doing." I dismount and lead her towards a stream that I spotted out of the corner of my eyes as we were traveling before.

She begins to drink some water and I kneel down beside her, scooping up some water to splash into my face. It's cold and refreshing on my skin, but I take no time to savor the moment. I have too much on my mind that I need to worry about. _I need to get to Faron's Spirit Spring soon. Link is waiting for me. He promised he would be._

I mount on the saddle on Epona's back once again and start to turn around. I figure just let Epona lead the way since I have no clue where I am. Even if I did have my memories, I probably wouldn't be able to guide myself out of a basket in this era. I bet every single one of these trees are different in my time; either torn down by time or grown at least a few more feet in the air, maybe even having more trees beginning to sprout if the soil permits it.

Just as we start forward, an arrow streaks from the brush, barely scraping by my loose left sleeve. I look back at the arrow stuck in the bark beside me to see a liquid dripping off of its end. I look around, checking my surroundings for any trace of the enemy. If this arrow is any kind of warning, I know that I'm still very much in danger.

"There must've been a second group." I urge Epona to start charging forward. "Let's circle around to lose them, then head to the spring."

She whinnies as her speed rapidly increases as we head around, spotting the enemy. Our pursuers soon come closer, revealing themselves to be the same human-like monsters riding lizards as I had encountered before in Hyrule Field. The one baring the bow and arrow lingers at the back, continuing to launch poison-dipped arrows at us. With many barely grazing past me and Epona, I find it important to take that one down first before either of us get lethally poisoned or killed.

I make Epona quickly circle around them so I can get closer to the annoying archer. We head into the brush, causing the group to stop in confusion to where I've gone. Silently, we make our way around to the archer and dash towards it, making sure to take out my sword and slash its neck open with the Mortal Draw that I perfected. It screams as it tumbles over in its final moments with blood beginning to pool around the vile creature, the others in its group beginning to try to surround me.

As if reading my thoughts, Epona dashes through their small opening to barely escape their grasp, allowing me to strike down another one of them on the way out. Looking back, I take a quick headcount. _There're still seven of them left. I have to make sure they don't catch me, but I don't think Epona has much more strength to continue running like she has been. There has to be some way to get out of this…_

All of a sudden, another speeds towards me to my left, knocking me off of Epona with a strong hit to the gut. I roll off her, grunting as I crash to the ground with a loud thud, crunching twigs under me as I land. I groan in pain as I rise slowly to my knees, then to my feet. I take my sword out of its holster, slashing at the lizards that get within range using the Mortal Draw again. It takes a bit of energy, but I don't think I have enough to run. These things would surely catch me anyway.

"Epona, run away!" I yell to her as I stab at one of the monsters, knowing she'll go to Link. _Still seven more to deal with and this batch is stronger than the last. Much stronger. Something or someone must be powering them up. And their getting smarter, too._

With the use of the skill called the Jump Strike, I'm barely able to kill three more monsters and their lizards as well. I stand my ground with faltering breath, well aware that my strength is quickly wavering. Though running out of strength, I continue to slash my sword killing another monster. With three left surrounding me, I decide to use the Jump Strike again, even though it'll take the last bit of strength I have left. _If it means getting these things out of my hair, then it's worth it._

As the last of them scream in their death, I let out a sigh of relief as I try to catch my breath, hoping Epona will return with Link soon. I smile to myself as I put away my blade. _I wonder if Link will be impressed that I beat all those monsters all by myself._

All of a sudden, more monsters come screaming out of the brush with the sound of a horn. I run, looking back to count ten more monsters riding those lizards, all of them gaining on me.

_Damn it!_ I try to run faster, but my legs are already moving as fast as they can. _I don't have enough strength to take on all of them, especially without Epona. I have to flee to safety, wherever that could be, and find Link; but those lizards are going to catch up to me at any second!_

Struggling to catch my breath with each hurried step, the monsters stay close behind, screaming their battle cries while blowing that blasted horn every other minute. Even running through paths that should be difficult for them, they crash through without faltering. I begin to panic, knowing that if I'm killed, all hope is lost for my time. If I die now, it'll end whatever hope is left to save my era. I can't let that happen.

_There must be some way to shake these creatures!_ Instantaneously, something catches my foot and jerks me back on my face, hitting the dirt floor with a hard bang.

I look back at one holding a whip as the others surround me, squealing victoriously. Angrily, I take out my sword to cut my leg free, but it's whipped away by another monster who sneers at me. My hand begins to pound in pain from being struck and a welt begins to form where it struck my skin. I curse them under my breath and try to reach for my blade, finding that it's just out of grasp. The one with the whip around my ankle pulls me back further from my blade. Some get off their lizards and begin to come towards me with whips and bludgeons.

As a last resort from panic, I grab the loose dirt from under me and throw it in their eyes. With their screams, I do the same to the one holding my foot captive. It squeals bitterly as it lets the whip go, releasing me from its grasp.

With that, I make a mad dash between the lizards as I grab my sword, barely making it past their snapping jaws. I don't have enough strength to fight, so I just run as fast as I possible can as I put away my blade. I'm determined to get out of this alive one way or another. This isn't a matter of me dying or someone else, it's just me. If I have to run to stay alive, then I will. There's no shame in running from a battle that you know you won't win.

Again, they begin to chase me, but this time, I have more distance than before. Hearing the crack of a whip, I glance back to see that half of them are trying to strike me with them. I squeak a bit, trying to move my jelly legs faster. _Shit! That's going to hurt! I can't let them get me!_

I continue to run through the a thicker part of the forest to the east, hoping they would cease following me, but they only crash through the tree limbs unfazed. It's the same as before. They'll crash their way through anything in order to get to me. After awhile, my legs begin to feel like jelly, causing me to fumble every other step, which allows the lizards to gain more ground. Every step is more painful than the last as I fight to put each foot back on the ground again.

When I come to a clearing, I find that below is filled with a purplish haze. Something tells me that I shouldn't trust that haze whatsoever and that I need to find another way to escape. Hearing the screams of the monsters, I attempt to scale the cliff beside me in a last resort. I find the cliff too steep and slick, failing to get anywhere. As the creatures pour into the clearing, I find myself out of options, not able to come up with anymore escape plans. I look around me rapidly, trying to find something, anything that could help me escape, but I find nothing of use. _Damn it!_

I take out my sword again, knowing that all I can do is try to fend them off. There's no way for me to run anymore. I can't use any of those Hidden Skills that I learned either, they take too much energy; energy that I can't spare. If I try to pull off another Jump Strike, I'll surely have no strength to continue fighting, let alone run. I just hope I can defeat this group and that a second wave won't come after them. _There has to be a way to get these guys off of my trail!_

I slash at them carefully, not wanting to waist a single strike. I make sure every time I lift my blade, I'm killing a monster or its lizard companion. Every time one comes close, I make sure I can kill it before it can swing at me or dodge them; I mostly dodge until there's a fatal opening. After there's only a couple left, they begin to flee into the forest.

"Strange…" I say as I put my blade back in its holster. I'm quick to dismiss the occurrence, figuring it's better to move and ask questions later, at least for now. "I better move before more of them come for me… _again_."

Walking into the wooded area, I follow the path I took; marked by the various torn tree limbs and plowed ground. With adrenaline from before, I didn't realize just how much of these trees were destroyed or how far I ran. It's horrible. This place used to be so serene… and then, within an instant, it's demolished.

When the sun begins to show that it's midmorning, I sigh sadly as my stomach growls angrily. _I need to find some food…_

In the corner of my eye, I see Link's silhouette behind a tree. I look over happily, but I find that it was just an illusion when the figure seems to disappear with the blink of an eye. I push away the thought as I continue on, then hearing a deep voice echoing behind me, "You're safe now, my dear."

Before I can look back to see who it is, something hits my neck, draining my consciousness. I can feel something catch me; I can tell that it's a man. I can't find any energy to open my eyes to see who this man could be as I feel my body being carried; let alone find the vigor to fight against whoever has found me. He can't be a friend if he knocked me out, but can't be a foe either. He hasn't killed me. At least, not yet.

_Who… Who is this? _With that, I let myself fall into the dark conscious-less state that has been trying to overtake me. _Where could you be?_


	12. Chapter 12

Okay, so I'm just going to put a small **warning** here. Link fans may cry and want to stab me with a spoon. Please, don't. It's not very nice and it doesn't feel good :(

Other than that small tidbit, I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 12

I wake up to the sound of water crashing gently near me, echoing in the distance. Getting up with my head still soar and pounding from getting hit, I find my hands now tied securely behind my back. I look around to see that I'm stuck in a tent made out of thick tree limbs with the entrance gated off with one of those human-like monsters standing guard with a horn on its belt. It hasn't noticed my change in consciousness yet.

_Great… I'm sure if it'll alert its buddies if I make too much of a fuss._ I stand clumsily, almost falling back onto my face; I curse under my breath as I catch myself. _This must be an enemy camp, but this doesn't make sense. Where did that man go? Was he one of the enemy? Well, I guess he would've kept my conscious if he wasn't… But if he was an enemy, he would've killed me._

Getting annoyed with my bindings, I try to get my hands to my sword holster, thinking I could try to sever them with it, but find it and its holster missing from my belt. With a panic, my mind starts racing, trying to remember what I did with it. _Okay, I remember putting it in my holster when I was walking through the woods before, then I was knocked out. Then that means that man must've taken it while I was out! I better find a way out of here so I can get that back!_

I look around, searching for a sharp edge somewhere to cut the rope, figuring that one of these posts must have a large enough splint on it. After a careful glance around my cell, I find an edge of bark sticking out of one of the limbs. I smile as I slit the ropes and free my hands, rubbing my soar wrists. _I better make sure they didn't take anything else._

I search my stuff, checking off each item in my mind as I find them. _Strange… It seems that only my blade is missing. The left the stone and that bottle from Renado alone…_

Making sure the watchman doesn't notice me, I try to see outside the tent, only to find other monsters wondering about in the mildly grassy terrain. They're traveling between tents, carrying bludgeons, whips, and horns from their hips. I sigh, knowing that getting out of here unnoticed isn't going to be an easy task, if possible at all. I sit down in defeat and lean my back against the wall, trying to think of something, _anything_ to escape.

_I can't stay here and wait for them to kill me. I need to get out of here, but how? I can't faze through the walls._ I sigh with my head hanging low, feeling defeated. I know I had to get out of here before something bad happens. Out of the corner of my eye, I see something small moving by the wall. I walk over to it to see a string of ants crawling under the wooden barrier. I smirk to myself, an idea comes to my mind, making me proud of my wit. _That's it! Now to find something to dig with…_

I survey the area, searching for a large, pointed rock or sturdy stick to dig with. After a moment, I spot a black rock in the grass and as I get closer to it, I can see a design glowing in orange on it. It steadily glows in intervals of bright to dull. _Well this is defiantly not a normal rock. I wonder where it came from…_

As I go to pick it up, my mark begins to glow in intervals that seem to increase in speed as my hand gets closer. The rock begins to synchronize with my now brightly pulsating mark. I look at it confused, unsure if I should pick it up or just leave it be. Not seeing any other good digging rocks around me, I continue to pick it up. When I have it in my palm for just a few seconds, everything begins to burn, starting from my hand and extending out to reach every part of my body. In immeasurable pain, I tumble over onto the ground, afraid to scream and alert the watchman. All I can do is let out choked grunts and whines as pain overtakes my nerves. Everything begins to pound in a rapid speed and I find it hard to breath. I can feel my body reacting to the strange power that seems to be emanating from that rock and I begin to panic, not knowing what's happening to me. I begin to fear that this is it. This is the pathetic end of a replacement hero, being killed by a strange rock that barely fits in my palm.

When the pain finally fades into a numbing state, my breath becomes steadier and more normal, but I don't feel like myself anymore. My sight is different, somehow darker and hazed, yet sharper. I feel warmer, too; much warmer. I stand, finding that I have paws instead of legs and a furry tail to match. _What the hell?! What happened to me?!_

I look at the stone again, now afraid of the strange object. I step towards it and instinctually sniff it like a dog would, but I'm careful not to touch it. _There has to be a reason this is here. It wasn't just put here for me to find… could it?_

I sniff it again knowing that dogs have a strong sense of smell, I could track whoever dropped it or where they came from. With the sent now etched into my mind, I begin to find it faintly familiar, as if I've smelt it before. I gasp as much as a dog can as I remember where I've smelt it. _Link! Link was here! But that means he was captured, too… I have to find him!_

I search for a place sturdy enough to dig under and start moving the dirt awkwardly, still not used to having paws. It's hard for me to dig, my moments being so slow and awkward. When I finally make a space large enough to crawl under, I stop and look back at the stone pondering whether I should or not. _I can't get out looking like this. I mean, those monsters won't recognize me, but Link won't either. I wonder if I can change back into a human. There's has to be some way to turn me back to normal._

Walking towards the shining stone, I find myself afraid to touch it again; fearing the pain that will come with transforming again, but I continue to touch it with my paw any way. My breath escapes me as the pain again returns to take over and batter my nerves. My body burns as it had before, but this time, the pain isn't as unbearable. It's like taking a walk on an excruciatingly hot summer's day while you have a headache. Painful enough to complain, but bearable enough to make it through

When the pain begins to numb, I know that the transformation is near completion. These few seconds of this feeling of near death will soon be over. It takes a moment, but I begin to feel my muscles stop burning, yet still ache. I let out a sigh of relief as I sit up off the ground, seeing returned to my human form with hands and feet; no tail included. I then look at the stone, not knowing what to do with the cursed thing. _I need to return this to Link, but I surely can't just pick it up. I'll just turn back into a dog…_

With an epiphany, I take off one of my empty pouches and scoop it carefully; closing the pouch securely and reattaching it to my belt. _Hopefully it won't fall out. Now I better find Link before it's too late._

I crawl out my little burrow and stay close to the tent, seeing other monsters placed close by. To my luck, they don't wonder too close by. They're too busy with other things to notice an escapee right under their noses. When I think the coast is clear, I dash from tent to tent, wanting to stay out of sight.

With each sprint, the fear of the worst races through my mind. Being caught by the horrid monstrosities while they batter me with their whips and bludgeons. Finding out who captured me and figuring out what they're planning to do with me. It scares me, but I know I can't let it happen. I need to reach the next Spirit Spring and, more importantly, find Link before something bad happens.

Reaching a tent near the far end of the camp, I find an abundance of Link's stuff piled in it. _Now I surely can't carry all of this stuff and not get caught, but it looks like some of this can be of use to me. Hopefully Link won't mind if I borrow a couple three items…_

I rummage through the items, finding everything except our swords in the pile. I take no time to linger over the thought and search for other things that could be just as useful. I take the slingshot and bow, along with a large quiver of arrows and a bag of seeds for ammo. _There's no time to waist._

Surveying the area, I find that the monsters decreasing as the move west up the slope caressing the rock wall. I follow them at a careful distance behind them as they head to the bridge towering above this lake, making sure that they won't see me as I track them; hoping to find Link along the way. I discover that the majority of the group is abandoning their posts to head up the cliff towards the grand stone bridge that hangs above the lake. Suspicious why the whole group is heading up, I look up at the bridge, searching for an answer. In the center, I spot device that dangles off the side of the bridge with a little green figure swaying slowly back and forth at its end. I gasp seeing that he's not only out cold, but injured as well. _Link!_

"You monsters are going to pay…" I growl, readying my bow as my anger begins to boil over. I load three of my sharpest arrows carefully in the bow, preparing to strike. I aim just above the group knowing I can't take out the two dozen that are heading up there all at once on my own. _Hold on, Link._

When I release my arrows, I smirk seeing that I hit my desired targets, then quickly hide in a crevice of the cliff. I listen to a couple scream as their killed and the group stampeding angrily back towards the camp with shrieks and yells for battle, trying to figure out who had attacked. As the last of them quickly shuffle pass by me with a rumble of their feet, I double check by barely glancing around; my gaze hitting Link once again, continuing to fuel my anger. When they've finally gone a good enough distance, I begin to dash up the steep hill, knowing that there's no more time to spend trying to deceive these fools. I find it imperative to reach Link as fast as I can, no matter the cost.

With the bridge within distance, I see a monster baring my sword on its hip and a sparkling key. Blind with only my objective in mind, I shoot an arrow at its neck to prevent it from calling to the others and grab my blade along with the key. Just as I look up, a group of the monsters start heading towards me while the other half stay behind, preceding to throw rocks at Link's limp body. That only increases my rage.

"Aaagh! Die!" I yell as I slash the monsters down as the come at me. I run towards the monsters surrounding Link enraged, not sparing a single one of them of my fury. With them all dead, I walk swiftly towards Link, seeing that he's chained to a large weight. I let out a breath knowing that I got here on time to save him from being drowned. I begin to take out the key I found on one of the monsters, saying with some relief, "Now to get you out of here."

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a man with silver hair behind me. I turn, baring my fangs protectively, not wanting anyone else to injure Link. He smirks at me, and then takes out Link's elegant sword from his dirtied holster. He holds the tip of the blade with one hand and the hilt with his right, his eyes piercing up at me. "We meet again, Nasia."

"You must be the man who knocked me out earlier." I grow standing between him and Link, now recalling him to be the man from my memory. "And the trader who led the enemy to our camp."

"You got the second half right, but I'm afraid you're mistaken on the first. We found you knocked out at our doorstep." He chuckles menacingly. I can tell it's something I've heard before from the familiar icy chill that travels up my spine. "I see your memory is still hazed over, isn't it?"

"Not so much to forget a face belonging to the enemy." I bluff, raising my sword. "Who're you working for?!"

"Heh, you really are in the dark. No matter. That just makes this all the more interesting." He steps closer, keeping Link's blade low. "I admit, I didn't think I would see you outside the walls of your cell again. You must've gotten help somehow, but I suppose you don't remember that either."

"Just who are you?!" I yell angrily, knowing that he's a powerful threat. A threat I can't lose to.

"I'm sure you'll remember in time, but for now, I have more important things to take care of. Like you're little friend here." He steps towards the device with a smug smile still firmly planted on his face. I stay close to Link's side, glaring at this silver haired man. "He sure is becoming a nasty little thorn in my side, especially since he tried so hard to keep you a safe distance from me. A noble effort, but he failed nonetheless as you can obviously see… Tell me, what does this man mean to you?"

"That's none of your business." I growl, not wanting to give away his identity, though I'm pretty sure he already knows.

"You may be right, but even so, he wears the tunic of the hero of legend. Link, was it?" He smirks moving his blade over it and I block, keeping our blades a good distance from the rope. "I can't ignore the Hero of Time so pitifully at my mercy. I wonder… Do you think if I get rid of him now, will you still continue to exist? Or will you disappear?"

"I won't let you harm him!" I yell infuriated. "You were able to steal the lives of my people, but I won't let another fall to you."

"Why don't you try to protect him from yourself?" He sneers as he forces our blades down and cuts the rope with my blade. I growl, slashing at him with blind rage. He jumps back, dropping Link's blade as a dark portal appears behind him. "I say he has no more than a few minutes to live. Till our next meeting, fair Nasia."

With that, he disappears into the portal, but I have no time to reflect on what he had said. I make a mad dash for Link's blade and cram it in my holster with my own sword before diving down to follow him down to the water below.

He hits the water with a hard splash a good five seconds before I do. Each of those seconds pass as slow as hours. It feels as if it's taking me too long to follow him into the water. My skin stinging from impact, but I try not to focus on that. I look down to see Link sinking quickly below into the dark. I start swimming towards him awkwardly, figuring out that I don't really know how to swim. I only swim down faster with a racing heart, seeing the air bubbles trickling up from Link's limp body. As I grow closer, I see that his eyes are barely open, fluttering as his breath is lost in the water.

_No!_ I manage to grab him and prevent him from sinking further. I take out the key from my pouch again, almost dropping it as I do. I work as quickly as I can to unlock his shackles, making fumbles as I struggle to get the key in the lock. Once he's unchained, I begin to drag him to the distant surface that sits above us. _Just bear with me a little longer, Link._

I try to ignore the very little air in my lungs as I move my soar muscles as fast and powerfully as I can. Though it's hard to ignore a pain as prominent as this; it feels as if I'm trying to move mountains as my limbs make each stroke through the water. One glance at Link's unconscious figure is enough to give me some strength to swim just a bit longer. I can't let him die. There's so many people that depend on him and look up to him… including me.

And then, finally, I break from the water's heavy hold as we're exposed to the cool air that gently wisps around us. I leave no time for rest as I take in a huge gasp and begin swimming to the shore with the same pace. Dragging Link with me, I pull him out of the water and quickly try to tend to him.

I hover over him, seeing his face still. He doesn't even cough or breathe as I shake his limp body. At that moment, when he looks so tranquil, I feel everything that I know shatter.

"No…"


	13. Chapter 13

**_Finally_**!

Your long wait is finally over! Link's fait is finally going to be revealed! (or is it? :3)

Anyway, I worked really hard on trying to get this chapter out. Midway, I got writers block and I still have a bit of it... but that won't stop me from continuing to try to write! If you feel that something doesn't feel right, then please PM me. I got no problem with reviewing and editing previous chapters, especially in this case of writers block I have...

Again, sorry for such a long wait, and I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 13

Tears begin to form and stream down my cheeks as I stare at his limp body, my sad heart heavy with grief. I begin to wipe the tears away, but they just keep flowing down my cheeks without falter. Looking at him again, my brittle heart shatters. The only friend I have in this era is dead and it's all my fault. I'm supposed to be a Hero, but I couldn't protect him.

"Link… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…!" My words are choked by my tears as I fall into his chest, wishing he'd come back. Wishing I had gotten to him even a second sooner. _Maybe if I was just a second faster, he'd still be alive… This is all my fault… I'm so sorry…_

**Ba-Bump…** For a moment, I don't register what I've heard, being too caught up in my remorse more than anything else, but when it happens again, everything stops; my tears, my breath… time itself frozen for that soft, faltering sound. I snap up and stare at him, slowly beginning wipe away my tears.

I watch carefully, hoping that my mind isn't playing tricks on me. To my relief, his chest moves ever so slightly, barely noticeable to the human eye. I listen carefully to his breath; It's a slow and shallow breath, but a breath none-the-less.

_He's alive… He's really alive! But… for how long?_ I stare at him, trying to force a memory to arise. I need something, _anything_ that will help me revive him before he's really gone for good. _Anything about CPR would help me immensely right now…_

"Come on, come on! I don't have much time!" I cup my face in frustration. "Oh, Goddesses… Did I ever even do CPR in my past?! Come on… I can't let him die!"

I comb through the memories I've recovered so far, trying to figure out if I had been near water in any of them. _Not on the battlefield; not in the castle… The campsite… that had a lake by it! Someone must've almost drowned there! Okay, is it bad that I'm wishing for that?_

Despite the thought, something begins to slowly come back to me. It's a memory at a campsite, but not the same one I remembered earlier. The grass even has a small bit of green to it and the skies a friendly light blue; no red in the skies or on the ground to be seen. It must've been a time before the real Hell was released upon Hyrule.

A redheaded woman was pulling a child from the lake, the same redhead who I recalled earlier to be my mother. The child in her arms wasn't Tarin, but it was a little boy who looked about six years old. Everyone was rushing around to the scene, all except a few children, but I found it strange that all the adults towered high above me. I realize that this memory must be of a time when I was younger and judging by how much taller the adults were, I must've been between seven and nine.

I rushed over to my mother, needing to push my way through the adults who were blocking my path. When I looked at the boy with my heart beginning to race in a mysterious panic, I knew that I must've known him. It takes me a moment to realize that I remember him from the ambush if only for an instance. He was one of the knights who didn't carry a child.

Other memories are released into my mind, but not any of what I need at the moment. I recall that he grows up to be one of my head knights and, even more, he's my most trusted childhood friend, even if he's a bit younger. I just can't remember his name or if he had it through that ambush in one piece.

Pushing those lingering questions out of my mind for the instant, I watch my mother as she puts her head to the boy's chest for a moment and then, after about ten seconds, pounds on his chest one, two, three times. I pay very careful attention, knowing that this is what I need to do to save Link. She pinches his nose and places her lips on his, causing my heart to stop for a moment and snap me out of my memory with a burning face.

_I can't… B-B-But I have to! There's no other way…_ I look over at Link, seeing him let out another slow breath. A breath that's much slower than the last. Time is quickly running out. _You can do this, Nasia! I can't let him die! This wouldn't count anyway, he's unconscious... I'm sure he wouldn't mind either if it's to save his life._

Not wanting to stall much longer, I place my hands on his chest the same way my mother did and pound three hard times, praying that I don't break him. He's small for a guy; petit. Still bigger than me, but small enough to make me wonder how he has so much strength and stamina. If anything, it gives me that much more admiration for him. It makes me wonder if I'll ever be as strong as he is.

With a shaky hand, I pinch his nose and hesitantly let my face linger over his. _I can't believe I'm doing this. My first kiss is while giving CPR… No, I can't worry about that right now! Saving his life is much more important than my first kiss! I have to save him no matter what!_

I take a deep breath and place my lips on his. His lips are wet and cold, yet soft and a little warm, too. It's so strange. I breath into him until I have no more air to give. This act and feeling is so strange that I'm sure I've never given CPR before, but I have to hope that I've done it right. I must have since I did it the same way I saw my mother do it to that boy. He did live after all.

I watch him for a long moment, but he doesn't move; not even a small twitch. I can feel my heart sink as a mixture of sorrow and rage churns within me. He can't die like this. Not when Hyrule is still in so much peril and I can't save it on my own. I wouldn't know where to start if I didn't have Link to guide me.

_No!_ I pound on his chest as I did before, harder this time in my stubbornness. I freely let the subtle tears stream down my cheeks, not caring that I'm crying; much less caring to wipe the tears away. It's not shameful to cry over a friend, especially one so close to me… and to death. _It's not going to end this way! You need to live for Hyrule's sake! And for mine as well…_

I breathe into him again giving much more air than before. When he still doesn't move, I listen for his faint heartbeat while my own is racing in a panic. When I hear that soft melodic sound, I repeat the process again with even more vigor. I can't stand losing even one more person to that silver-haired image of evil.

With another large breath forced into him, he begins coughing up water. I freeze in place as he looks up, not seeming to see me. For a long moment, his eyes are hazed and unfocused; obviously not fully aware of where he is or what just happened. As he finally comes to, he sits up slightly, staring at me with a confused glimmer in his eyes. "Nasia, what're you…? How—"

"Link!" I tackle him, unable to contain my happiness as joyful tears stream down my cheeks. I really thought he was gone. He grunts as he's shoved down in response to my tackle. I get off flushed and panicked realizing that not only have I theoretically kissed him about three times, but I freely hugged him. My heart is racing so fast that I'm struggling to form sentences in my mind to speak after all the emotions that have been racing within me. "I'm sorry! I-I shouldn't have done that… I was—I just—"

"Nasia, it's fine." He smiles gently, though sitting up with some difficulty. It's now that I can see clearly the deep cuts and nearly black bruises that cover his body. Even with him being so battered, I'm relieved to see him like this compared to otherwise. "You were scared, weren't you? I would've been scared, too."

"I'm just so glad you're alright… well, kind of." I correct myself, my flustered mind not able to think strait just yet. "What happened to you?"

"Those Bokoblins ambushed me soon after you left and when I defeated the first group, a second appeared. We were lucky to get you away from there in the nick of time. It went on like that for a very long while until an entire horde arrived, managing to take away my sword and smother me to the ground." He explains, his breath becoming steadier with each word. "A silver-haired man came and interrogated me on where you were. When I didn't tell him anything, he knocked me out. I later found myself chained, but I don't recall much after that."

"I knew I should've stayed…" I mutter more to myself than to him as I look towards the lake. Its waters are so peaceful, even though so much havoc has occurred around it. Something about that bothers me while I recall everything that has happened in the past twenty-four hours. _Maybe then he wouldn't have gotten so hurt at my expense…_

"Nasia, it's alright. I'm fine." He turns my face to look at him smiling serenely at me. "We're both safe, for now. That's all that matters, alright?"

I can feel my face beating with his wet gloved hand cupping my cheek. All I can do is stare into his eyes as my heart almost pounds through my chest. After a moment of realization of my staring, I look away feeling my face burning hotter than before. "Right…"

"How did you get here anyway? I thought Epona was supposed to take you to Faron's Spirit Spring."

"I got ambushed, too. Those monsters chased me on lizards and eventually separated me from Epona." I explain as he patiently listens. "I told her to run while I continued to try to get away. I was cornered after awhile, but… then something strange happened."

His brow furrows in curiosity, but somehow I sense an urgency as well. "What do you mean?"

"Well… I would've been captured, but they fled for no apparent reason. It was as if they were afraid of something…" I remember the event vividly, my legs becoming sore from the exhausting memory. "When I was trying to make my way back to the spring, I thought I saw a figure that looked like you and then someone knocked me out. That's how I ended up here."

"Looked like me? That doesn't make any sense…" He looks away for a moment, a dark light shining in his eyes. "It couldn't be…"

"Be what?"

"Nothing." He smiles calmly. "It's nothing to worry about."

I frown, knowing that he's not telling me something, but I try to push it aside. I should worry about getting Link healed as soon as possible. "If you say so… Well, then we better get to that Spirit Spring."

"We've already reached one of the Spirit Springs." His smile is gentle and warm. "Not Faron's, but one of the two we needed to get you to, nonetheless."

"Really?" I look around, seeing a cave entrance a little ways ahead of us. I presume that must be it, figuring that this huge lake surely isn't a Spirit Spring. Eldin's is ten times smaller, or more, than this lake. "So where are we then?"

"It looks like Lake Hylia."

"Lake Hylia?"

He begins to rise to his feet. "Yes. We're lucky that we ended up so close to one of the springs."

In less than a step, he falls to his knee with a grunt. I quickly go to catch him before he falls over and hurts himself further. "Link, you shouldn't move so suddenly! You need to rest!"

"I'll be fine." He smiles and looks over to the cave. "We're here. You can meet with Lanayru and I can heal in the waters."

"Alright." I agree reluctantly, a sigh resonating on my lips as I stand to help him up. "Then let's get going."

I have him lean on me as we walk the couple of meters to the cave, not wanting him to almost fall again. I already had enough mini heart attacks for one day and don't wish to have anymore if at all possible. Otherwise, I really will get one and I'll be the one needing medical attention.

Upon entering the cave, I find the spring sparkling beautifully with the sunlight shining through the entrance. I marvel at the sight as I help Link to the edge of the water for him to heal his wounds. With a sparkling light, just like at Renado's house, his injuries are healed almost instantaneously. _These springs, they're so beautiful and filled with such magical energy. It must be because these Light Spirits reside here. I wonder what it would be like if all of Hyrule could be this beautiful._

Link smiles as he steps out of the waters and motions for me to walk to the ledge hanging over the spring. I nod knowing what to do and that no matter what this Light Spirit wants me to do to prove myself, I'll be able to do it. If I can escape the enemy's clutches when I was captured and save Link from certain death, then surely I can get through anything else that's put in my way.

I stand at the edge of the cliff hanging above the pure spring water and stare down at the crystal blue that ripples below me. As each moment passes, I can feel my confidence faltering little by little as my nerves tremble. I take a deep breath, remembering what Eldin had said. If what he said was true, then I shouldn't be too frightened. The Goddesses chose me, a single girl out of hundreds in the land to try to bare the Triforce. They chose me to save Hyrule from darkness when Link wasn't able to be reborn. That must mean they see something in me that's great enough to have the honor to hold and protect the Triforce in the first place. They wouldn't choose just anyone out of desperation.

In the middle of trying to boost my confidence, a bright light like Eldin's begins to shine from beneath the waters of the spring. It slithering around in the waters like a snake for a while before finally becoming still. With a flash of golden light, what I suppose to be Lanayru rises from the spring, revealing himself to have the shape of a mythical dragon.

I bow and pull out my necklace to present to him, ready to receive judgment despite my nervousness. "Lanayru, I am Nasia from an era that follows behind this one. I have been sent here to receive the blessings of three of the Light Spirits to become the next Chosen Hero. I have already received the blessings of Eldin. If you see me fit, I would be honored to receive yours as well."

"I am aware of this journey you're on and I have been watching you very closely since its start. I'm impressed by the show of wisdom you have for being so young and free of memories to rely on, especial in an hour of dire need. It is rare to find strength such as that within mortals." He begins and I smile, proud to be praised by such a holy and powerful being. I'm sure not everyone gets to receive such an honor. "With what I've witnessed, I will bestow upon you my blessing."

"Thank you." I bow again as the lower left triangle glows bright blue in the stone while the other dimly shines red as it had before. I look at the stone with excitement and pride. This means that I'm that much closer to being able to bring peace to my land. _Only one blessing left to receive before I can use the Triforce to end the rein of horror for my people._

"Maiden chosen by the Goddesses, you still have difficult challenges before you. Only when you bare enough power, wisdom, and courage in your spirit can you overcome these challenges that lie ahead." He says as his golden figure begins to fade. "When you receive Faron's blessing, then will you be able to wield the power of the Triforce and save your era from demise."

I nod, giving a slight bow before I meet his large golden eyes again. "Yes."

"Be brave, young maiden. As you know, you have a great power that stands before you who wishes to devastate the land." His words are echoed, bouncing gently on the walls of the cave. "It would be wise to keep your weaknesses at bay."

"Yes, I will. Thank you." I say as he and his golden light dissipates, making the waters change from a deep, rich gold color to crystal. I stare at the water, letting my thoughts wonder for awhile, thinking of what I'll be needing to do to prove to Faron that I deserve his blessing. Hopefully, it won't be so extreme as this… 'challenge' was.

"You're doing well, Nasia." I turn and look at Link, who's smiling back at me like always. It's funny how such a simple gesture can cam my nerves so easily.

"We'd better hurry to Faron." I walk over to him, my nerves at ease for the moment. "We don't have time to waist. Every minute we spend gives the enemy more time to do harm to my people."

"Of course." He agrees as we walk out of the cave and stand there for a moment. It takes me a moment to realize how much brighter this area is, but I'm sure that that's just a figment of my imagination. It must've been bright this whole time. "I wish I knew what those thieves did with my stuff. They took everything, even my Horse Call. There's not even a reed around her to call her with…"

"Follow me." I grab his wrist and start leading him down the path toward the tent I awoke in earlier without looking back at him. My face burns hotter as I realize that I don't know why I grabbed his hand in the first place. Maybe it's just that I don't want to lose him again. "When I was escaping, I found a tent where they stored all your stuff. Hopefully it's still there."

He says nothing for a moment, but I here him grunt quietly. It's not a negative grunt; it's more amused in a way, but I'm not quite sure what to think of it. All I know is that whatever it was, it's causing my face to burn even more. My heart's beating so fast that I fear it'll pound right out of my chest. _I must be having another mini heart attack again…_


	14. Chapter 14

Wow, how long has it been since I last updated? XD Well, your long wait is finally over and Nasia's adventure will continue to... you'll have to read and find out!

Sorry there was such long wait, but I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd really love to hear what you have to say!

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The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 14

I try to force my heart to calm down as I lead Link through the abandoned enemy camp. Noticing how he makes no move to pull his hand from my loose grasp, my heart continues to ignore my demands and beat at a steadily rapid rate. It's almost too much for me to handle, given that this has been going on near constantly since I awoke in this camp, but I manage to overcome the stress. I don't want Link to need to worry about me if I keel over in a real heart attack. _Besides, what kind of Hero would I be if I can't overcome my inner battles?_

With my heart finally gaining a relatively normal pulse, we enter the heart of the camp; the same area where I was held. Though the tents are all nearly identical, it doesn't take me very long to find the tent I dug myself out of, the dirt still freshly plowed from where I created that 'tunnel'. _Now I know it was somewhere around here…_

Time passes quickly as I track down the route I took in my flighty, sporadic escape. At the time, all I could think of was not getting caught and finding Link, but now I wonder what they were planning to do to me anyway. I doubt that silver-haired man was trying to test me, but I can't make any assumptions about him just yet. I don't know anything about him, other than he's tried to kill many of the people I cherish. I wish I could say he failed, but I still have many holes in my memories and for some reason, he makes the confused gears in my head turn rapidly. There's something about him that bothers me, other than he's on the enemy's side and attempted to kill Link. But what?

Despite my ragingly tangent thoughts, we find the tent that I had discovered holding Link's things earlier. Links smiles at me, though I find the instant a little saddening; especially when his gentle hand leaves mine. As he goes over to collect and inspect his belongings, I stare down at my hand, missing the warmth that was just in it moments before. I don't know why, but it felt really nice to hold his hand, despite my fast pounding heart and burning face.

_Why does he do this to me? He makes me so sparse and flustered, yet… he makes me feel stronger._ I watch as he carefully dusts off a strange 'U' shaped whistle and carefully places it in one of his belt pouches. He seems so peaceful right now as he goes about his business, not particularly in any rush; it's chilling to think that he nearly died no more than an hour ago. _I have to continue to get stronger. I don't want him dance near the edge of death ever again… Nor anyone else either._

"Seems like most of my stuff was here." His melodic voice snaps me out of my daze with my eyes meeting his. He looks at me curiously. "Did you have another memory?"

"No, just thinking." I can feel my face beginning to burn again. I think it's starting to become a physical habit. "I'm fine. Really."

"Alright." His hand rest on my shoulder for a moment as his smile returns. "Shall we get going?"

"Yes." I nod, following his lead out of the tent and towards the stony bridge up the hill.

It's a much steeper of a climb than I thought it was when I first raced up it, probably due to all the mass amounts of adrenaline that I had before. It seems to not a very difficult walk either, but it sure feels like it. I haven't really had much of a chance to rest these past couple days. It's draining, but it feels normal, too. Judging from my visions, I must've done a lot of evading to protect my people. I had to do everything within my power to keep them out of harms way.

_I hope they're alright. What even happened after that ambush? I wish I'd remember already. I need to know what happen to them…_ I let a silent sigh leave my lips as I continue to slowly trek up the path. Looking at Link, leading me up toward the top of this hill, I feel a little eased. _If he could protect his people when they were in danger, then I should be able to as well, right? We're both Heroes after all. Well… I'm almost a Hero, anyway. I'll be a Hero soon enough._

Finally reaching the stony bridge, we find an arrow stuck in the dirt. One of the ones I had shot to distract that horde of Bokoblins as Link called them. As Link pulls it out of the dirt, an epiphany runs through my mind. I reach back to find that I thankfully still have the bow, but I don't have any arrows in the quiver anymore; probably falling out when I had dived into the lake. I check everything else I had, thankfully only losing a few seeds for the slingshot. _At least I didn't lose his sword when I frantically put it with mine… that would've been bad._

"Link." I take his sword carefully from my holster to prevent the two blades from scratching each other. "I got this back from that man earlier, though… it kind of slipped my mind."

"I was wondering how long you were going to hold on to that." He chuckles gently, taking his blade in hand and sliding it gracefully into its rightful holster. "Thanks for taking care of it."

"It was no problem, really…" I glance away for a moment before taking the bow off my back. "This is yours, too, right? I found this and the slingshot in your stuff while I was escaping."

"Keep them." He pushes the bow towards me, a smile on his angelic face. "It would be good if you broadened your arsenal. Keep them safe for me."

"I-I will!" I nod with a proud smile as I place the bow back on my back, my face feeling warm.

"It's strange, though… I left those with Epona." He looks towards the west, worry clearly painted in the glimmers of his eyes. I can see that he truly fears the worst.

"Maybe they fell off her when we were being chased." I suggest, quickly finding a conflicting fact. "But that wouldn't make sense either. That figure captured me a good distance away from where we were separated…"

Without a word, he swiftly pulls out that strange whistle from his pouch, blowing swiftly into it. The sound it makes is gentle, as if the tune is singing her name. He stays morbidly still for a long time before putting the whistle back into his pouch with a frown. "Damn it…"

"What's wrong?"

"Epona usually responds quickly to her call. Either she's too far away or in danger." He sighs. "If only there was some way we could track her…"

_Track?_ With the thought, I quickly unhook the pouch with the strange rock from my belt and carefully open it. "We can track her with this."

He gazes into the pouch curiously, raising a brow as he does. "Where did you find this?"

"It was buried in the dirt of the tent I was imprisoned in." I twinge recalling that Hellish burning of the transformation. "I thought I recognized your scent on it…"

"It's called a Shadow Crystal." His gaze traces over me as a playful smirk creeps across his lips. "You touched it didn't you?"

"Yeah. It did something strange…" I look away for a moment, reluctant to relive the event. _I don't really want to, but I suppose for Epona—_

"Do you want to see?" Link's pleasant voice breaks me from my disturbed memory. He patiently smiles at me as I try to register what he said.

"Wait, what?"

"Do you want to see my transformation?" He crooks his head to the side. "I can tell you're not too fond of it."

"I-I'll be fine." I stutter. If there's one thing I can't do, it's that I can't be afraid. If I'm afraid, I won't be able to save my people. "I'll be able to track Epona, no problem! I can—"

"Nasia." He stops me, placing his hand gently on my shoulder. "It's alright. I don't mind. It's probably better if I do it anyway since I know the layout of the land and Epona's scent better than you do. You can just ride on my back. You look like you could use a break anyway."

"Oh, uh… alright." I agree reluctantly. _Why can't I be as fearless as he is?_

He reaches into the bag; a slight glow appears as his hand meets the magical crystal. His morph from man to beast is short, much shorter than it felt like, and he doesn't wince or cry out in pain as the transformation precedes. Now, instead of man, a large wolf stands before me; a wolf much larger than any normal one I can recall. His fur is dark with grey-ish silver patch traveling down his sides. The same shade of fur makes up a strange square-shaped pattern on his forehead. Though taken a different shape, he still has his small blue earrings and bares the Triforce on his left paw. His eyes are still the same as well, wild and noble; a blue so beautiful and mesmerizing that I'm awestruck.

"Amazing…" My words are lost as our gazes refuse to leave the other. Though a wolf, I can still see the man I admire in those eyes. _Well, more than admire…_

He steps closer to me with his tail beginning to wag slowly. I raise my hand to run across his forehead to his ear and scratch gently. He smiles as much as any canine can with a gaped mouth and a rapidly wagging tail. I contently continue to run my fingers through the soft tangles of his fur._ Was I a wolf too when I transformed?_

He motions me to get on his broad back while I linger at his side. Thinking of Epona, I quickly hop onto him to mount on his back, finding that he appears to be much larger than I was as a canine. My legs don't even come close to touching the dirt below. I must've been at least half his size when I transformed, making me wonder how and why he's so massive in the first place. He's a pretty lean man, so how is he such a large beast?

As I entangle my fingers in his thick fur in my deep thoughts, he looks back at me with a small bark and bright eyes. It's strange, but I somehow can understand what he's meaning to say; asking me if I'm ready. Though I'm not quite sure how I know what he's asking, I nod, making my grip on his fur slightly firmer.

He takes off in a mad dash, heading towards the south, quickly beginning to race through the twists of crags. As we race through, I find his speed equal to Epona's, if not faster; his long legs attacking the firm ground below with each quick step. It scares me just as much as it amazes me. Even in such a different form, he's still astoundingly powerful; much more powerful than one would think him to be.

_He said the same thing about me, didn't he? That I'm much stronger than I appear to be… but I don't feel very strong at all._ I frown as I gaze up at the sky; the sun positioned no more than a couple hours past noon. _Why is that? I've been chosen by the Goddesses for my strength… Even more, Link already has said that he has so much faith in me… so why do I doubt myself so?_

Trying to shake off my frown, I cling tighter to Link as we enter a large open field. Though there's no monster insight, I feel horribly uneasy. It feels as if there's someone out there watching us; expecting us to track Epona through this plain. My grip tenses with the thought that we're walking right into that silver-haired man's trap again. It's inevitable if Epona has indeed been captured, but I hate the thought of Link's safety being threatened again. I really shouldn't since he'd already defended not only himself, but Hyrule as well against the Twilight long before I came around; in fact, in reality, he does that long before my birth. I have the fullest of faith in him that he can fend off anything that threatens him, but in the case that he's not… I don't know what I'd do.

_Well, maybe I shouldn't say that. Surely the first thing I'd do is cry…_ I think to myself bitterly. _That was all I could do when I thought he died earlier and in the case of him almost his end will come eventually. No one lives forever… and since the Light Spirits even said that Link was unable to be reborn, he's probably going to die ages before my generation comes about. I wonder just how long until that time comes. One, two-hundred years? A thousand?_

"Ahh!" I'm suddenly thrown out of my thoughts and almost off of Link's back with a sudden, unnecessary swerve. He barks back at me, a peculiar smile on his furry face. I smirk, amused and thankful for the distraction. I bet he must've sensed my sadness and wanted to cheer me up. Animals are more sensitive to emotions after all, so I think it makes sense. "You trying to throw me off, now are you?"

He barks cheekily back as he picks up his pace and swerves tightly around again, as if to challenge me. I laugh, holding tighter so I don't fall. I know he wouldn't drop me on purpose, but why risk it? Accidents happen and I sure don't want to hit the ground at this high speed we're traveling at. I'd likely break my arm if I did fall.

"Alright, just try to shake me off!" I laugh. "I'm not letting go any time soon!"

He races around the field towards the west in the most indirect paths he can take, speeding from north to south and back with narrow swerves. Eventually, he runs strait through a small lake, splashing both me and him with cold water; my boots and his fur soon waterlogged by the cool, shining liquid. Though soaked with my hair whisking around untamed through the wispy air, this is the most fun I can ever recall having. It's so exhilarating running wild and free like this through the untamed fields of Hyrule. For if only a moment, it's just me and Link. No worries, no doubts, no pressure; just pure fun and games.

_If only things could stay like this forever… _I smile bitterly as we slow down, entering another twisted path. I look down at Link worried at his sudden decrease in speed. His tongue's hanging out while his ears are drooping slightly, his breath blatantly quick and heavy as we walk further down the path.

"Link, you shouldn't have worn yourself out like that." I frown. "How come you did that all of a sudden anyway? You're going to need your energy if we're going to find and rescue Epona."

His only response is a mild bark, soft and light as he tries to not worry me. This deepens my frown, already knowing very well why he wasted not only his energy, but our daylight, too, having no more than a couple hours of sun left. It'll be dark soon, meaning that the chances for danger to arise will become unfortunately significant. I sigh, not wanting to have him know that I'm worried about him. _The thought of that is too selfish anyway._

"You know, I can't speak canine…" I sigh with a light smile and small chuckle as he stops near the end of the enclosed path to get to an open area; though it's not as open as the fields we were just in. I find it a little unnerving; more places for the enemy to try to sneak up on up. He settles next to a tree and lies down, his energy nearly depleted from the effort to lighten my mood. "Why don't you get some rest? Well continue when you're more energized."

He nods without argument and settles quickly into place, curled loosely next to the stump of the tree to rest. His breathing is a little rugged, but normal, much to my relief. I sit beside him as his eyes droop tiredly, running my fingers through the tangles of his fur.

_You're really sweet, you know that?_ I smile and scratch behind his ear gently. _And adorable, too._

I leave him be, touching the pouch for the Shadow Crystal to make sure I hadn't lost it. Reassuring myself that I still had it, I gaze back at the abnormally large wolf beside me with a sigh. I figure it best for Link to stay this way for now. The transformation back to a man would probably drain what little energy he has left, even if he has been restored by the Spirit Spring water.

Besides that, we are traveling much faster than we would be on foot, despite our games and I wouldn't want to bother him by transforming unnecessarily. He would want to have us travel like this anyway so we could find Epona faster, even at the expense of his own energy. I really wish he wouldn't push himself so hard like he is. Speeding around to try and cheer me up while searching for Epona… It makes me wish I was a little bit stronger. I frown, knowing that I'll have to keep my fear and worries hidden around him. He doesn't need to carry my burdens. _I have to be strong. I just have to be! The fate of Hyrule rests on my shoulders. It's my responsibility to protect the land and my people. Fear can't stop me from doing what I've been chosen to do._

Looking back up at the sky to distract my worried thoughts, I can tell that twilight's nearly upon us. I sigh, already knowing that I need to be wary of another ambush while Link sleeps. Thankfully, I've discovered that the sound of a horde is one of the few things that can wake him up. And if it can't wake him up, we're doomed. There's no lake, stream, or any other body of water around to push him into and I surely wouldn't be able to drag him out of danger.

I gaze back at Link, already fallen fast asleep. There's nothing I can do to prevent a smile from settling on my lips as I continue to pet him. Even as a wolf, he's still an adorable sleeper; he looks so peaceful as the twilight's light begins to fade from the land.

The night's shadows soon settle around me, chilling me slightly. I look down at my shivering arms, then back at Link. I take a small breath of bravery and scoot beside him, leaning against his warm coat of fur. Strangely, this reminds me of something. Something that starts coming back to me; another memory. I can see that this one is of a time near winter where my people had little surprise and no shelter. I don't know when this was, but I think it was after the true chaos befell my era, my father already one of the many who lay dead at the hands of the war.

"N-Nasia… I-It's c-c-c—"

"Yes, I know, Tarin." I held him gently close to me, pulling my blanket to cover his trembling body while sitting by the campfire. I remember how useless I felt when I saw his lips pale and cheeks pink from the cruel winter winds. "Just focus on something else to take your mind off of it. You'll feel warmer then."

The harsh cold of winter was approaching fast, the first flurries already beginning to settle, and we had little supplies. Everyone knew it looked grim, but none spoke a word of it. No one dared to dishearten the children's hopes for a better future in the coming years, nor did they want to lose what little hope they had left; including me. Yet somehow, I had been able to encourage our group to keep going and though younger than most warriors, I became our leader. With that responsibility, I made one thing clear. Our main goal was to survive until the Goddesses' Chosen Hero arrived and we would do everything in our power to help defeat the darkness when the time came.

"Nasia?" His bright eyes gazed worriedly up at me. "When do you think he'll come?"

"A soon as he can, don't you worry." I hugged him tighter, sympathy and regret filling my heart. He couldn't be more than six, but he'd already experienced enough by then to be as mature as I was. He was born near the beginning of the evil's reign, so he had never truly seen peace and I was helpless to protect him from the war and bloodshed around him. "He'll come any day now and make everything better."

"I can see him." He mumbled softly, sleep beginning to take over. "He's really strong… I just know he'll come soon…"

"Yes, he will." I kissed his forehead as my mother had. She used to that every night before putting him to bed. That was before she died from an illness when Tarin was only five; I was eleven, almost twelve. Since then, I had made it my responsibility to take care of him since our father died in battle shortly after Mother had passed. All I could do then was hold him tight and keep him warm. "Until then, I'll protect you. I promise."

From there, the memory slowly fades, again leaving me with more questions and worries. I sigh, relieved that my memories are returning more and more each day, yet distressed at the same time. _I wonder how he's doing… I hope he's okay. If he's not, then… then I—_

Link barks softly, snapping me from my thoughts. I smile, petting his head gently, not wanting to have him worry about my vision. "You ready to go?"

He nods, staying in place for a long time. It takes me a moment, but I soon recognized that he was waiting for me to get on his back. As I do, I realize that what Tarin said was right; Link is strong. Stronger than anyone I've ever known. I just wish Tarin would be able to meet him someday, too. It would give him the hope for the future that he needs. The same hope that he has given me.


	15. Chapter 15

Hey, I'm back! Did you miss me? :3 lolz

Anyway, just so you know, I've been working to make my chapters much longer and better descriptive, plus not so quick. I think I'm doing a good job so far, but I know I can do better; hence why I'm going back to edit previous chapters. I hope you guys like these more descriptive changes because I know I do c: Why don't you tell me what you think?

Well, without further adu, I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd really love to hear what you have to say!

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The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 15

The night's cool air is harsh, combing through my hair wildly as we race around through the now shaded kingdom of Hyrule; nightfall already kissing the land in the sun's absence. It's not enough to make my exposed skin numb, but it does sting my eyes. Adding the darkness of the shadow filled forest we've recently entered, it's hard for me to keep track of exactly where we are; not that I would really be able to in the first place. All I can really tell is that we're heading somewhere west, following Epona's scent.

Instinctually, I look around us with caution, searching of anything that could appear off. I can tell that a situation like this isn't that unusual to me, my muscles tense and ready for an attack. I admit, it feels so familiar to travel cloaked in the night like this; almost comfortable even. Almost. Judging by the memories I've recovered, I think it's safe to say that I've had to do something like this with my people often; run. All I can really remember is running from the enemy, which makes me wonder… did I really ever fight them? Yes, I've fought the Bokoblins before and I can recall Tarin not wanting me to go off to fight, but what happened after that? Did I actually leave? Or did I stay? I'm not really sure if I've ever been on a true battlefield.

Leisurely glancing around while in my near constant pondering, I spot a pair of small glowing red orbs in the darkness between the trees for a single moment. It sends a cold chill down my spine, panic arising in my heart.

_It couldn't have been my imagination. It was much too creepy and vivid to be a trick of the mind._ I'm careful to not act as if I saw something in case that was an enemy, but I already know it's too late for that; there was something there and they saw me, too. I saw something in those orbs; something that you don't just think up out of nowhere, unless you're insane. Those were eyes and within them were malicious rage and bloodlust. _We need to get out of here. We need to go now!_

"Link, we're not alone!" I whisper quickly in his ear, not wanting to be too obvious to our pursuer. I can tell their watching us; waiting for the right moment to strike, but I refuse to let them get that chance. "We need to lose them!"

His pace picks up abruptly as he takes off with a sharp turn to the right. Luckily all that swerving he did earlier helped me learn how to move my body so I don't fall. _I guess our fooling around served a purpose more than just to cheer me up._

As we zigzag through the trees, the pounding on the twigs littering the ground behind us echo through the forest, making it hard to tell just exactly where they're coming from. Despite that, I can tell the enemy is quickly gaining on us, the sound of its hooves becoming steadily closer and louder.

Looking back, the strange red orbs twinkle menacingly a few meters behind us. The sight makes me gasp, but I try to react quickly nonetheless. My mind is completely consumed by thoughts of needing to protect Link and not let us get caught. I don't want anyone around me to get hurt again if I can help it and I should be able to. I am one blessing away from being the most recent Hero after all and the Hero needs to be able to protect their people, especially the ones they cherish.

I take out the slingshot I had borrowed from Link and carefully aim between those strange eyes with a seed. Yet, as soon as I release my hand's tight grasp, the eyes disappear, as does their shadowy silhouette as if it was never there in the first place, but I can still hear the daunting pounding of the enemy's hooves. My gaze darts around in search of them, finding them again moments later much closer than they were before whilst wielding a long blade in the figure's hand that grimly shines in the moonlight. I pull out my own, wanting to be ready for when they are close enough to strike.

Suddenly, my hand is struck by something hard and cold with such force that I lose my grip on my sword as a grunt leaves my lips. As it begins to fall to the ground, I try to grab it, only succeeding in slicing my hand open in the attempt. I let out a yell from the sudden pain before I can restrain myself. _Damn it!_

A cackle echoes around us, seeming to be everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. To my left, I'm hardly able to look back at the bright red eyes above me before receiving a firm strike to the gut by a hard, blunt object, slamming me off Link to the hard ground below, the soil already damp from the dew beginning to collect in the grass. I groan as I quickly force myself to sit up, finding a large, dark figure towering above me. There lays a man sitting on a large black horse, his blade down and pointed towards me. Other than his inhuman red eyes that stare down at me with twisted amusement, I can barely see the devilish grin in his shaded face as his words break the stillness of the forest. "We meet again."

"Who—?!" I stop as I spot Link bolting at him with his teeth bared. I watch almost in slow motion as he launches himself at the man, knocking him off his steed the ground where I barely have time to move out of the way. Recovering, I look over to see the anger in his canine eyes while his teeth are already penetrating through the man's upper arm near the shoulder. "Link!"

He wastes no time in trying to fight Link off him, his sword thankfully already flung out of reach when he was pounced. Link stays on the man for a long time, clawing at the below him and shaking his head wildly as if to tear the man's arm off. For a moment, I stare at them, not don't know what I could do, but I know I need to help him.

While those two were busy in their struggle, I claim the sword only to be caught in a moment of disbelieve. The hilt black, yet elegantly constructed in an identical shape as Link's purple hilted blade. The blade shines with a grim, steely black luster with edges looking sharp enough to slice right through air. _This blade is exactly like Link's, except…_

I look back over at the two still fighting, wondering who how in the world something like this could exist. Even with a master sword smith, no two blades are made exactly the same, yet this one lies right here in front of me, the only difference seemingly being in its color.

When my eyes meets Link's as he continues to lash out at the man who furiously fights back, jumps back off the man, blood dripping off his now partially red tips of fur around his mouth and paws. He rushes to stand in front of me with a deep growl directed towards our now bloody enemy. As the man begins to stand up, I take a better look him with a small gasp. "Just who are you…?"

Jet black hair, glowing red eyes, and a tunic as black as the darkness itself… Its all daunting, but that isn't what baffles me the most. It's the fact that beside those features, this man looks exactly like Link; the hair, the face, even his height and stature are identical.

He chuckles, holding his bloody arm while darkness swirls around him. I watch as his wounds on his arm and chest heal abnormally fast, the blood no longer secreting from the cuts and gashes that were just there. The smirk on his face grows even more twisted and wider as he looks at me. "It's been only a day. Isn't it a little too soon for you to forget about me?"

"You're not answering my question!" I snap angrily as I stand, holding his black drenched blade towards him. It's heavy and daunting in my hand, as if it was crafted from the shadows themselves. I can tell that there's something very wrong about this blade, but I don't have the time to worry about that now. "Who the hell are you?! And what do you want with us?!"

"Heh, you don't have a very good memory do you?" His remark makes me twitch with aggravation, the statement hitting a sensitive nerve.

My hand clenches the hilt of his blade as my frustration skyrockets, the blood from my cut still trickling slowly out of my hand to drip to the ground._ Sure, the effects of Faron sending me back in time may have stolen my memories from me, but that doesn't mean that I have a bad memory. If I did, they wouldn't have been returning to me as they slowly have been… How the Hyrule does he know about something like that anyway?!_

He chuckles once more, continuing with his mockery. "Here, I'll give you a little hint. Those Bokoblins weren't running from you."

"So you were the one who knocked me out…" I mumble just loud enough to make his smirk grow wider. "Are you working with that silver-haired man?"

"No, not at all. I don't work with anyone." His eyes glimmer for the slightest moment; a dark, sinister glimmer. "I'm completely and utterly alone."

_This guy… he's completely insane…_ I try not to let his ominous presence get to me, though it feels as if the shadows are slowly encroaching around me. I can't show my fear. Especially not to this lunatic. "Then why did you hand me right over to him?"

"You ask a lot of questions. Some questions are better left unasked." He takes a step towards us. Link immediately lets out a deep, bellowing bark as a threat. The man only shakes his head with a malicious grin that sends a horrid chill throughout my body. "If you really must know, I wanted Link to suffer a bit more before he dies is all."

"I'm sorry to hear that…" I let out my own protective growl. "But you're not going to lay a hand on him!"

He laughs, first as a small chucked and then into an uncontrollable, twisted bellowing. Without much warning, Link lunges himself at the man, only to have him dispel into the darkness of the night. It startles me to see such a strange sight, but I can't let my guard down. We both look around in search of the man who literally just disappeared into thin air.

_This… this is madness._ I constantly search with my eyes, my heart pounding in my chest. I find it hard to breathe, the air around me becoming heavier with each breath.

Another ominous chuckle echoes around us, Link growling in response. In my ear, I can hear the low voice whispering into my ear, "I will lay a hand on you though."

"Wha—Hey!" Dark shadow-like things transform into his figure behind me, apprehending both of my arms. His hand tightly pins my left arm behind my back while my right hand is forced to hold the cool metal of his blade against my neck. Even as I try to let go of it, his hand clenches around my own, keeping the blade firmly in place, the blood of my hand forced out as he squeezes. "Let–-let go of me!"

"Do you really expect me to release you just because you ask me to?" He chuckles with entertainment as his grip on my arm tightens slightly, causing me to grunt as the metal of the blade is pressed against my fresh wound. His breath tickling my ear as he speaks with a low, husky voice, "I think not."

Link barks and growls at his shadowy look-alike, anger eminent in his shining blue eyes. I glance over at the man sneering at Link in disgust. He may look like Link, but he's definitely not similar to him in even the slightest of way. _Oh, how do I get out of this one…? I can't get killed now. Not when I've come so far!_

"Oh, you want to attack me? You'll have to tear through your little friend here first." He snickers. "It's a pity, really. She's a cute one. I can see why you would want to be so protective of her. Too bad you're not very good at it."

He barks again, a deeper and angrier growl coming from him as his fangs bare. I know he won't do it, not if it means causing harm to me, but then we have no way to defeat this guy. The only way to get to him is, as he said, literally through me…

His look-alike snickers, twisting my arm to hold my hand at the tip of the blade and slowly pressing it into the threateningly sharp tip. I'm barely able to force myself to grunt instead of cry out, slowly penetrating deeper into my palm. I can feel my blood's steady trickle from the cut and watch as the red liquid traces down the edge of the sword until gravity pulls it down and off the metal.

Link growls at the man, his body trembling as he stands across from us, but I can tell that it's not from fear; it fury. His look-alike chuckles as he carefully moves my hand down to stretch the cut through my palm, steadily pressing deeper into the skin. I gasp for a second, needing to hold my breath to prevent my pained screams from leaving my lips. He has me at his mercy, but I surely don't want him to know it. If I can't do anything else, I need to not let him have the benefit of hearing my torment.

"You're no fun." He takes my hand from the blade, moving it to his mouth to lick up the blood flowing steadily out of the deep cut in my palm. The creepy sensation makes a disturbed chill run throughout my entire body. His smirk doesn't falter as he continues to stare Link down who barks angrily at the man with hate filled eyes. "At least your blood tastes good; your fear has already seeped into it."

"Fear, huh?" I try to take my hand away to no avail. _Damn it, he has an iron grip!_

He only licks the cut again biting into my skin with his teeth, seeming to be more like fangs than anything else. "Yes, _fear_. It's quite delicious."

"I'm a person, not a snack!" His grip tightens, making more blood seep out from the crevice of flesh and licks it again. "Will you stop that?!"

"I'd rather not." He presses the blade to my neck a bit more. "You're blood is the best I've had in a long time. I'd like to savor it for a bit since you're little friend over there is so helpless to do anything, but watch. It's quite entertaining actually."

As he snickers, biting into my hand again to bite deeper than the first time. I try to lash out at him, but my actions only cause his blade to penetrate the skin on my neck. I don't need to ask why his eyes flash with amusement; I already know.

I can feel the blood tracing slowly down my neck, my newest wound feeling barely deep enough to cause bleeding. He snickers, "You really should pay attention to the position you're in. Ignoring it just might get you killed."

_As if you didn't plan on killing me anyway… _I glare at him, and then look over at Link. I can see how angered he is, but there's something more than that loathing he has for his look-alike. Maybe something along the lines of… protectiveness? Disparity? Maybe I'm reminding him of how he had to save Hyrule in the past. He did say that his friends were in danger… I presume much like I am now; but there's one difference that I can come up with. I'm not helpless. I can't be if I want to be able to protect the people I cherish. _I can't let fear stop me… Not when there're so many people that depend on me._

Not able to come up with a better course of action that won't get me killed, I quickly stomp down on his foot with my ankle with as much might as I can. Luckily, his grip loosens as he grunts just enough for me to gain some control of my hand. I snap my fist solidly into his face as powerfully as I can manage without causing him to further slit my throat and quickly tear my other hand out of his, somehow managing to keep my grip on his blade without causing much more injuries to myself.

Link bolts to my side as his look-alike glares at me, his annoying smirk finally wiped off his face. I thought I'd never be so pleased to see such detest in another's eyes. "Snack time's over… Do I still look afraid to you?"

"You'll pay for that." His frown is morbid as he snaps, the sound crisp in the quiet of the forest as my blade suddenly appears in his hand. "You both will!"

"Just try me!" I dash at him, wanting to take him down as quickly as possible. Without exchanging a single blow yet, I know he's dangerously strong. He looks just like Link, so he must be just as powerful. I know that time Link spared with me, he held back a bit as I was getting used to using a sword again, I know there must be things he knows that he's never even shown me yet.

I can hardly manage holding the darkened sword in my hands as I slice at the look-alike. He evades my slash, circling around me with a quick sidestep. There's barely any time for me to redirect and recover as I find myself needing to block his slash at my gut. Somehow, I manage just in the nick of time to sidestep his attack as he did to evade mine. Jumping back for a moment, I let out a deep breath, not taking my eyes off the man starting to come towards me with his battle cries echoing viciously around us. _He's fast, but that just means I have to be faster. I can't allow for any openings… It'll mean the death of me._

As he charges, I use a barrage of slices to keep him from slicing through me. To my delight, one barely nicks his shoulder as the blade tears through the fabrics of his dark tunic. My act of success makes him snicker as his fluid and powerful slashes continue to crash down on me. Fortunately for me, I figure out how to use his attacks against him so that I can direct them away from me for the most part.

After a few more slices, I duck around, attempting to use my Back Slice on him while his guard is down. I force myself to lunge upwards towards where his heart rests, but all of a sudden, he unexpectedly back flips out of the path of my blade. For a split second, my eyes are caught in his daunting red ones, recognizing the confidence and bloodlust in them. As he lands, I roll to the side, barely making it out of the range of the swing of his sword, the air seeming to be sliced in two as the metal whizzes past.

Recovering, I have to force myself to continue to slash at him despite the blood from the wounds on both of my hands continuing to trickle, making my sword more and more difficult to hold onto. With each blocked strike, I can feel the effects of blood loss steadily kicking in as well; the slow unsteadiness becoming the most prominent of all of them. As each blow is exchanged, I can feel my strength beginning to falter. _This is bad… This is really, really bad!_

The man soon catches on to my wavering strength, becoming relentless with his slashes while a confident smirk rests on his lips. "You're running out of juice, girl; while I, on the other hand, still have plenty to spare! Thanks again for the blood!"

"I'm not through yet!" I jump back, my breath heavy from the fighting so hard. Something in the back of my mind tells me that my words are just that; words. They're just a bluff to prolong the fight that I've already half lost. Still, I manage to keep a hold on the thoughts of strength and hope that I need to win this. My life is no longer just mine; I need to survive this for the future of Hyrule.

While catching my breath, Link pounces from the brush to tackle his back and sinks his teeth into the man's left shoulder. With loud grunts, he tries to shake him off, his sword unable to be moved close enough to hit him. I notice that he's so easily forgotten that I'm standing right in front of him as he fights to get Link off of him. It's as if I'm a side thought compared to him, but I know that's good; I can use this to my advantage.

Using what little energy I have to jump up, I make this into a now or never strike, barely able to slash down on him, some blood spattering as the sword cuts into him to create a deep gash through his chest. I quickly jump back, not wanting him to lash out at me and leave an equally devastating blow on my body.

Link attempts to pull the man down, shaking him as they fall. I gasp for breath as I dash towards them, forcing the blade down into his core so much that it embeds itself into the ground. I leave the blade in him as I quickly move back to catch my breath with quick gasps as I'm left to look back at the man I just stabbed. Link stays growling at his look-alike while I move slowly towards him.

He looks at me with a cheeky smirk. "Heh, I guess I was wrong. You're more fun than I thought."

"I'll… I'll ask you… one more time. Who are you?" I have to gasp between my words, clenching my fists tightly to stall the blood still flowing out of them. _I'm not going to last much longer if I don't stop the bleeding._

"You're still stuck on that?" He snickers. "If you really must know… they call me Dark."

"Well, Dark, what do you want from us?" I try to keep a steady breath. "And where is Epona? I bet you know something about her."

"My motives are nothing you would be able to understand." He takes a long breath, slowly closing his eyes. "As for your horse… you'll see what happened to her soon enough."

"Not so fast you're not dying just yet!" I yell in protest.

"Don't worry, you'll see me again soon." His body begins to dissolve into the shadows until there's nothing left of him. Not even his sword rests embedded in the ground anymore. His voice echoes around us once more, "Until we meet again…"


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks so much for all the feed back on the previous chapter! I can't believe how much love it got from you guys! You guys are all _awesome_! It's really an honor to have such amazing readers like you guys :3

Anyway, there's an author's note at the end that I really, really, really need you to read and get me some feedback on. Trust me, it'll definitely be well worth your time c:

And, for my usual message so you can get to the actual story, I hope you enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd really love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 16

I look around us alertly, expecting Dark to appear somewhere in one of our blind spots and try to attack us when our guard is down. Each moment that I wait, the more nervous I get, until I notice something strange. The forest is still once again; nothing to be heard other than the leaves dancing high above us in the trees with the currents of the wind. Everything is peaceful once again, as if our sudden fight with Dark had never occurred. _Where in the world did he go?_

Then I hear something, heavy hooves to my left crunching twigs with every other step. Link recognizes the sounds too, bolting to my side instantaneously with a deep growl and a firm bark that sounds almost like a warning. I watch as the black horse that Dark had been riding come slowly towards us from out of the shadows of the brush. I glance around the area feverishly, searching for where my sword was left when Dark had lost grasp of it. I barely manage to locate it just a couple meters away from me as it rests hidden, entangled in the darkened grass. I quickly lunge myself towards it to pick up my sword in spite of my lack of energy, holding it defensively in front of me as I stubbornly fight to keep my balance.

Link's eyes don't leave the horse's as he steadily walks over to my side, a continuous growl bellowing from his snout. Even though he's putting on a good show, I can tell he's starting to run out of juice. His growls attempt to mask the slight trembling of his legs as he struggles to hold his weight; even his breaths have become noticeably heavy.

I can empathize with what he's trying to do as I am trying the very same thing. I don't want to show it either, but I'm faltering with my strength as well. If it wasn't for the threat of being attacked again, I'd probably have given in to weakness by now and keeled over. Unfortunately, I don't have that privilege with this creature standing before us. Even more, this creature looks strong; I don't think neither Link or I have the energy to find out what this creature is capable of, nor do I really want to. Truth be told, all I really want right know is some much needed rest. I haven't gotten much of that since I left the Princess's castle, but I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. I have a job to do as the new Hero, so I guess resting is a second thought.

Despite of my immediate suspicions, it just stands there for a long time, staring indifferently back at us without seeming to move in even the slightest of way, not even to breathe. I stare intently into its dark, glossy eyes as I try to decipher something that I see vaguely familiar in them. It takes a little bit before I see that it's not fear or anger that lingers in those black eyes, but weariness; the immense need to rest, much like what I know I'm in need of right now. I realize this creature may be controlled by darkness, but I can tell it's not evil. Not even close.

I relax my stance while putting my blade into its dirtied sheath hanging on my hip, seeing no need to prepare for an attack that will never come. Link looks quizzically back at me, whereas I just smile calmly at him; then at the black horse in front of us that has still yet to move. "You're not going to hurt us, are you?"

With my words, its gaze snaps into some kind of realization from its seemingly unanimated state with a loud shrill of a whinny as it shakes its main wildly, beginning to pound the ground below it as if to knock something off its back. Link growls wearily at it, inching back closer to me as dark shadows begin draining from the creature's body. Its coat changes as the shadows recede, morphing from that hauntingly rich raven black to a familiar, gentle brown. I gasp as the shadows slowly disperse with Epona standing before us looking just as tired and drained of energy as we are.

"Epona!" A wide smile arises with my relief that she's relatively well and very much alive. I begin to walk steadily towards her to prevent using up what energy I have left, trying to keep my breath steady at the same time. "You're alright! What happened to you, girl?"

Link scuttles over to her just a bit faster than me, sitting in front of her with a wagging tail as he begins to bark at her, but not the same way he did with Dark. It may just be me hearing things, but it sounds as if he's talking to her; asking her what happened to her, filling her in about where we've been and whatnot. I smile at the strange sight, feeling happy that the two friends are reunited and safe once again. Even though I don't understand what they're really saying, but I can tell that their ecstatic to see each other.

I stop a bit of a distance away as the two converse in their foreign tongues, not wanting to spoil their reunion. It's not like I'd know what they were actually saying anyway and I don't plan on going through that painful experience to be a canine for just a few minutes, especially with how weak I'm feeling right now. I don't think I'll be able to handle that and stay conscious. Instead, I settle with assessing the damage of my wounds for the mean time.

At first, I just stare down at my trembling fists, knowing that these aren't going to be pretty. With a deep, cleansing breath, I slowly unclench my bloody hands and stare down at the damage that's been done to them. Deep cuts are embedded into each of my palms, dried blood forming bartered frames around them. Though I can see that the blood is hardly dripping out anymore, I can tell that they were stretched further open when I fought, the cuts no longer smooth at where the blade's sharp tip penetrated my skin. Neither of them are particularly pretty, but they're not going to get any better if I don't get them taken care of soon.

I shiver as I stare at where Dark had bitten into my left hand a few times, disgusted that a creep like him had so easily gotten away with putting his mouth on me and even more… _drinking_ my blood. _What was he anyway? I know for a fact that vampires don't exist… so what could he be?_

I frown knowing that these cuts and puncture wounds, especially on my right hand, are going to slow me down a bit in battle; something in which I can't afford, especially if Dark appears again anytime soon._ I wonder how bad my neck got cut… Obviously not fatally, but it still must be pretty bad._

Letting out a deep sigh, I already know without needing to look around to see that there're no streams or lakes near by that I can clean my wounds in, which means these wounds are more likely than not to get infected. Frustration settles in my mind, figuring that I'm going to have to deal with these for awhile and I won't really be able to ignore them being that I use my hands everyday for everything.

As if I hit a brick wall, the effects of the damage I've taken begin to kick in, my will to ignore them overtaken by the overload of pain. My breath being heavier than it already is, my body shakily weak, my legs struggling to support my weight, and the lightheadedness from the blood loss becoming the most prominent effects. I look around me, trying not to show panic as I slowly make my way towards a tree to lean on for stable ground.

_How much blood did I lose anyway?_ The space between me and the tree seems to grow further and further away with each step I take, my legs struggling like crazy to keep a hold on balance for just a little bit longer. _I feel so tired; so drained. I really wish I could take a nap or something, though I know I can't. That would stall us too much and we can't afford—_

Without much more of a warning than I've already had, my legs give out from below me as if they were never there in the first place. I start to stumble forward before I can get even half a meter to my designated tree. Luckily, I'm able to retain enough balance to keep me from falling over completely, landing on one knee with heavy breath.

Link barks as he rushes over to me, a concerned whine coming from him as he sits in front of me, still towering over me a bit. Epona follows him, standing by my side as she pokes my head gently with her snout. I smile petting the both of them, trying to reassure them that I'll be alright. "It's okay, I'm fine. Just a little drained is all. That Dark guy sure was a tough opponent, right, Link?"

He just whines again, beginning to poke at one of my pouches; the same one that holds the Shadow Crystal. I just smile as I take the pouch off my belt, making sure to hold it wide open for him to reach. He quickly puts his paw in the pouch to cause the stone to glow as it had before, his symbol of the Triforce glowing with it. He begins shining as his transformation from beast to man seems to be a fast one once again, but I can't tell if it's because it actually is or if I'm just too tired to have a grip on the reality of time.

When it all is done, Link is sitting in front of me once again while I put the little pouch carefully back onto my belt. He stares at me with worry filling his beautiful blue eyes, a troubled frown on his face. I smile, trying to not seem as hurt as I really am, but he doesn't seem convinced, not even for a second. Then again, even I wouldn't believe me right now, so I can't blame him for not believing me and worrying.

Before I can say anything, he wraps his arms tightly around me, pulling me close to him; I can feel my rugged breath being lost in the sudden embrace, my heart beginning to race. I want to say something, but I stop as I recognize the trembling in his voice. "I'm so sorry…"

"L-Link, I'm fine, really. Just a few cuts and bruises; nothing big." I try to assure him, a fake energetic tone trying to cloak the pain I'm feeling in my sore muscles and woozy head. "Trust me, it's fine. I'm—"

"No, it's not fine. Because of my inability to protect you, you got hurt." His grip tightens as he cuts me off, his anger towards himself eminent in his dark tone. "You should've never been hurt like this; no one should be. It's all my fault. You wouldn't be forced to go through this if I was reborn when I was needed… This should be my fight, not yours…"

I find myself at a loss for words. I've never seen him so shaken up like this; it makes me wonder if this is how he felt two years ago when his friends were taken from him. He must've been scared—no, terrified with the thought of not being able to protect the people he cared about. Honestly, I have that same fear within me as well. I'm scared of Link getting hurt, too, as well as Tarin and the rest of my people. I fear losing every single one of them due to my lack of strength or whatnot.

Adding this guilt that's simmering within him about my needing to carry the burden as the new Hero… I can't even begin to imagine what emotions are brewing inside him. Pity? Self disappointment? Shame? There's no way for me to know and I doubt he'd ever tell me.

I hesitantly wrap my arms around him, rubbing his back to try to comfort him with the thought that it's the very least I can do. Besides, I don't want him to have that fear he must still feel to reside with him, nor do I want this guilt to continue to fester like this. "Link, it's fine. I don't mind being the new Hero if it means protecting the people I care about. Besides, I was able to fight Dark off just fine, wasn't I? I didn't die."

"But you could've…" His tone is grave, just barely above a whisper. "I was so scared; I didn't know what to do. I thought I was going to lose you."

"You don't need to worry about that." I smile, resting my head weakly on his shoulder. I can't help feeling to safe and warm in his arms, regardless of the thought that he's going to squeeze me to death if he holds me much tighter. "It'll take more than that to get rid of me."

"It better." He gives a slight squeeze before straitening out, taking my hands in his. I can feel my face beginning to burn, which I know can't be good with my lightheadedness. "We need to get these taken care of and quickly. You've already lost a lot of blood and we don't need these to get infected."

"Right." I nod, smiling in hope of easing his nerves a bit. If there's anything I can remember, it's that a smile can diffuse some of the pain most of the time.

Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be one of those times. He just stands with that remorseful look still lingering stubbornly in his eyes, turning towards Epona to dig through the stuff mounted on her back. I just sit and watch him sadly, wishing that there was something that I could to make him feel even a little bit better.

He turns away from Epona and returns to sitting in front of me with various items in his hands; garbs, a cloth, and a small glass bottle of water. He sets each item down gingerly, taking his gauntlets off and setting them aside before beginning to unscrew his bottle of water. "We'll have to bandage these for now as best we can. We have at least a day's trip to another Spirit Spring and fairies don't tend to hang around these part of the woods."

"But, Link," I frown, stopping him from pouring the liquid into the cloth, though the contact between his tunic's cloth and my wound causes me wince, "you shouldn't use your drinking water for something like this. There must be—"

"Nasia, I can always get more water. Right now, the most important thing is your wounds and getting them treated properly." He says quickly, his frown never faltering. His tone takes me back a bit; it's a tone so firm that it makes me question my own action. I've never heard him so… demanding and cold before.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." I reluctantly agree with a hushed voice, letting go of his wrist with my gaze being no longer able to meet his. The way he is right now scares me. It's as if he's so consumed with taking care of me that the sweet man I've known for the past few days has disappeared.

He lets out a deep sigh, causing me to look hesitantly back at him again. His eyes are no longer hard, now looking at me tenderly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you… I just—I guess, I'm just a little shaken up."

"That's understandable." I agree, knowing exactly how he feels. I have a few memories of battle, but I don't even know if my own people were still alive when I get transported back in time and it pains me to even think about it. He has even more memories of his people, so he still has more experience than I do with the horrors of the bloodshed in battle. I'm sure he's had a few friends either die or come close to it in his past. I just smile, not knowing of anything else I can do as I hold out my right hand for him. Hopefully my obedience can be enough at the moment to soothe his troubled mind. "Let's get these taken care of. We can't let these be for too long."

His lips twitch into a small smile as he nods, continuing to pour the water into the cloth. He takes my hand gently, beginning to clean the wound of the dirt and blood. It stings and makes me want to whimper when the cloth touches the sensitive deeper layers of skin. I settle with sucking in my breath, wincing every once in while when those deeper layers of tender skin are touched.

"I'm sorry." He looks at me apologetically, beginning to dry off my hand and wrap it. "I'm trying to be as gentle as I can… but it doesn't seem like I'm very good at it."

"No, you're doing fine. It's just really sensitive, you know?"

"Yeah." He nods, carefully wrapping the garbs around my hand so they won't irritate it too much. Unfortunately, no matter how ginger he is to my wounds, I know their going to be a thorn in my side for awhile. "I had a lot of really serious injuries before when the Twilight started to attempt taking over Hyrule, but I never had much time to really take care of them too much. I settled with what I had time for and moved on. Fortunately, I almost always wound up at the Spirit Springs through out my journey. I was always lucky with finding fairies to help me in a pinch, too."

"I don't recall anything about fairies." I admit after a moment. I probably should be embarrassed that I don't know about something he talks about as if they're common and well-known beings, which they probably are, but I'll give my faulty memory the benefit of the doubt for now. I don't want to sit in silence for too long; it'll drive me crazy. Besides, this conversation seems to be lightening his mood a little bit. "What are they?"

"They're the spirits of the forest, really helpful ones. They have the ability to heal people's injuries. I've even heard that they can revive the dead before they are too far lost." He finishes wrapping my hand, making sure that it's not too tight. He then rings out the cloth and begins to get it wet again to clean my other hand. I can't help smiling at how fondly he's speaking, a complete one-eighty from a few moments ago. I guess regardless of the guilt he has, he's glad he has someone to talk to about his experiences in saving Hyrule. There's only one person every other generation has to go through something like that after all. "They can be really helpful at times, especially when fighting a powerful enemy. You never know if or when you'll need one of them. I probably should've been searching for one while we've been traveling."

"I'm sure we'll find one sometime." I wince as he places the now pinkish-red cloth on the gash in my left hand, though I'm slowly getting used to the stinging sensation that's filling my nerves. _Though I really wish we had one with us now._

"Better sooner than later." He stops and stares at my hand for a moment, his thumb grazing one of the puncture wounds where I was bit. I can see a loathing in his eyes that continue to grow the longer he looks at it as his smile begins to die again, much to my displeasure. "We need to have one or two stashed away for when Dark comes for us again. Next time, he won't underestimate you like he did."

I look away for a moment, not sure whether I should ask about him or not. I can't let that hate within him continue to grow, but then again, talking about it could make it grow, too. Stuck in a lose-lose situation, I decide to give in to my curiosity as I ask, "Just who and what is Dark? I mean, it seems like you two have crossed paths more than once."

"Unfortunately, yes, we have." His tone is drenched with disgust that seems to increase with each words said. I really hate it when he gets so serious and hateful, even if it is rightfully so. Even if there's so much trouble that surrounds us, I don't want him to be so unhappy. It makes me unhappy, too. "He's… He's much like a twisted clone of me created a long time ago by a man called Ganondorf."

_Ganondorf?_ The name rings a bell in the back of my head. For a moment, nothing comes to mind, but I continue to comb through my memories to figure it out. "The same one the Princess told me about?"

"Yes, the very one. He created that monstrosity as darker and warped reflection of me with one goal in mind." He begins to wrap my hand slowly and gently as he did the other one, despite the detest drenching his tone. "Dark was created as an attempt by Ganondorf to hunt me down and kill me before I could stop him from taking over Hyrule. He almost succeeded in getting rid of me, but I managed to seal him away with the help of the Princess. Unfortunately, it looks like, somehow, someone has released the seal and now he's trying to finish what he was created to do in the first place."

"It must've been that silver-haired man." I frown with a mix of anger and frustration. _Now, not only do I have to worry about this nameless silver-haired guy trying to kill us, but Link's evil clone and whoever released him as well… Why can't there be just one bad guy and not one million?!_

"It's likely." He finishes the bandaging of my hand and rewets the cloth again, motioning for me to lift my chin. I silently obey and he begins to clean my neck wound, which surprisingly doesn't sting as much as the other wounds did. "He seems to be able to use black magic."

"Black magic?" I question as he dries the cut on my neck with something irritatingly rough in texture, but I try my best not to let it bother me.

"It's a very dark and powerful art. It can corrupt even the purest of people into vile insanity. No one in their right mind would use such a dangerous power." He takes the garbs in hand and begins to wrap my neck wound, his fingers tickling my skin as they dance around to get a secure hold on the bandaging. "We have to get to the next Spirit Spring before Dark can recover from his injuries. There, we should be able to get your time before he can catch up to us. If we can do that, Dark will be stuck in this era and won't be able to bother us."

"Wait, what?" I blink, not quite registering what he just said. "You're going to come with me?"

"I'm not going to let you go back to your time unguided. I told you I'd stay by your side throughout all this, remember? Besides, I still need to teach you the other five Hidden Skills; you are still technically my apprentice." He frowns, but not in anger. It seems to be more like disappointment. "Do you not want me to?"

"No, not at all! I just didn't think you'd be able to go into the future… but I guess that was a silly thought." I laugh nervously, rubbing the back of my head. I suppose spending so much time here in this era, I forgot that I'm from a time that hasn't even occurred yet. "I mean, I did get here after all."

"And I'm glad you did." He finally smiles as he finishes wrapping my neck, adjusting it slightly. He looks nervously back up at me, his gaze flickering from my neck to my eyes. "Too tight?"

"N-No, just fine." I can feel my face beginning to burn, though I'm half convinced it's also from my light headedness. The other half of me is screaming for me to just admit the obvious truth.

I'm not quiet sure what this truth is, but, at the same time, I do. Hidden not so deeply within me is the undeniable fact that I… I'm just afraid to admit it; even to myself. I don't know why this is, but just thinking about it makes my heart hurt; as if twisting pang of a memory is shutting itself within the depths of my conscious, just like the first vision I had at the Princess's palace. Neither are pleasant to think about, even if one's just a feeling. It's as if I don't want to remember why and, in a way, I'd rather not find out.

"Nasia?" Link's voice drags me from my thoughts. I look back at him seeing a worried expression on his face; it's been there a lot lately. I wish he would smile more. "Another memory?"

"Yes and no." I admit, seeing no use in trying to hide it from him. If I can trust him with my life, I can trust him with my memories, too. "It's more of an emotion than anything else. It'll pass."

For awhile, time seems nonexistent as the soft melodies of the forest enclose around us. I'm trapped in the gaze of his eyes shining so beautifully at me. I can't look away as I explore every shade of the beautiful blues in his eyes. They're like the colors of an ocean, swirling around for eternity to create so many shades of blue that I never knew existed. It's just too captivating to even think about looking away; I wonder how I've ever been able to in the past.

Before I can realize what I had been doing, Link's hand touches mine, gently resting there to not bring pain to my wounds. I look down at it and then back at his eyes, amazed by the warmth and happiness I have bubbling within me to touch his ungloved hand. Such happiness makes everything around me a little bit fuzzy. It takes me a while to recognize that we've gotten so close to each other, the hair of our bangs nearly touching. _How could I not have noticed that I had started to lean in so close to him? It must've been those eyes… Why must I—_

"I'm getting an emotion, too." He says softly, his words seeming to be as heavenly as Hyrule is beautiful. I can't believe he's not backing away from me, but, instead, leans towards me as well. "Something good."

My heart skips a beat and my breath stops, trapped in my lungs. Nothing is registering to me, time seeming to slow down to a near halt. I'm scared and yet excited all at the same time. _Something good?_

All of a sudden, there's a snap in the brush near us to which Link quickly pulls out his sword, his arm quickly wrapped protectively around my shoulders as he shifts to be nearly in front of me. There's nothing except silence for awhile and we both make no move as we lie in wait. I can feel the fear building up within me as I slowly move to get a grasp on the hilt of my blade, not taking in out of its holster just yet. Something moves again in a nearby bush that makes my hold on my blade tighten ever so slightly in preparation for another fight, though I doubt I can handle another one at the moment. We both stare impatiently at the shrubbery, expecting another attack.

Then I see something; a squirrel. A tiny, harmless squirrel. The little ball of brown fluff scampers around a tree before receding back to the darken twists of the forest. I let out a sigh of relief and release the tight grip I have on my blade before looking up at Link, who's placing his sword back into its sheath. He looks back at me, his face quickly becoming more and more red; so much that it can challenge the color of a ripe tomato.

"Uh, I… I think I'm feeling a little bit better. We should start heading towards the next Spirit Spring." I laugh nervously as I begin to drag myself out of his reluctantly moving arm. _D-Did we… Did we almost… kiss?_

He stands, shaking his head as he dusts the dirt on his tunic off. "No, you're still in no condition to be going anywhere and neither is Epona."

"But, I thought you said we need to get to the Spirit Spring before Dark gets to us. We can't waste any time." I try to stand up again with shaky legs, managing to stay on my feet despite the lack of energy I force myself to ignore. "See? I'm fine."

I start to walk towards Epona with a confident smirk. Then I lose my footing in the dew glossed grass, starting to slip backwards with gravity's forceful pull. Seems like no matter how much I try to deny the weakened state I'm in, the Goddesses are going to intervene to make me rest one way or another.

Before I can hit the ground, I'm stopped abruptly by a pair of strong arms. I look up to see that Link has caught me, giving me a skeptical look. It actually looks kind of funny with it seeming that he's upside down and I can't help letting out a little giggle. "Oh, really? What was that you we're saying?"

"S-So I lost my balance. That doesn't mean anything." I smile at his teasing as I try to argue against him, though I know very well that I've already lost. I lost before I even started to stand. "I can still travel at least a _little_ bit further."

"You're not going anywhere." He begins setting me gently down, not letting me go until he trusts that I won't fall over again, even though I'm sitting.

I frown, not liking what I'm hearing at all. I don't want to take the risk of Link getting hurt, even if it means sacrificing the time I need to rest. "But, Dark—"

"Has injuries, too. Ones that won't heal over night." He says before giving me a slight smile. "We'll be fine for now, and even if he does come back, I'll make sure he won't touch you."

_But you're the one I'm worried about._ I sigh, giving up the fight. I went into it knowing that I wouldn't win anyway. "Fine, fine. We'll stay here for the night."

"Glad to hear it." He smiles widely, pleased with my cooperation, before standing awkwardly up, a blush paining deeper shades of red across his cheeks. He turns away, beginning to walk towards the darker part of the woods.

"Hey, wait!" I reach towards him, though I know it's useless with him being too far out of reach. "Where you going?"

"I, uh… Kindling." He starts off, nervousness evident in his posture. "It's a little cold and you don't exactly have enough blood at the moment to keep yourself warm enough, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose." I nod, not sure on how to reply. He's acting so strangely, as if he doesn't even know what he's doing.

He smiles at me with sweet intent. "I'll be back soon, okay? Try to not pass out while I'm gone."

"Okay." I agree as he continues to disappear into the darkness of the forest. As his silhouette is overtaken by shadows, I curl into a ball. Every thing is coming at me so fast; being attacked, getting injured, and…that. _We really did almost kiss... and I wasn't going to stop it._

* * *

**Hey, you! Yes, YOU!**

**LOOK HERE! XD**

Okay, I'm having a bit of trouble here, so why don't you help me out? I'm not quite sure where or when exactly I want these two to actually kiss and/or get together (because they obviously will, hence the description of the story and the various shipping hints I've written so far c: lolz ). I've thought of about million different ways to do this, but it comes down to these three below which I think are the best out of all that I've come up with.

_**Option 1**_

_very_ soon.

_**Option 2**_

soon, but not too soon (maybe more towards the middle-end ish?).

_**Option 3**_

closer to the end or at the very end.

Please tell me which you think should be the fate for Link and Nasia cuz they really want to find out too! XD I really want to get your guy's input because, well, you're my constituents and I really want to please you the best I can c: (plus I can be a bit indecisive and I don't want to be wait months before uploading because of it :P lolz)

And if you're wondering why I put this note at the end (unlike anything else I've written), it's because I didn't want to spoil the content of this chapter for you :3

Oh, and if you have anything else you think would be a great element or plot twist to add to my story, just comment and/or PM me. Those who already have know that no matter how short or how random it is, I will always read it and reply as soon as I can c:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I really enjoyed writing it! Again, please tell me what you think and the next chapter will hopefully be up very soon!


	17. Chapter 17

Alright, so last time, when I posted the previous chapter, I asked about what your guy's opinions were on when Nasia and Link should officially hookup. I didn't get as many replies to this as I hoped, but I've very thankful to the few who did.

I want to give a special shout out and thank you to the three who posted their thoughts on the matter (in the order that they replied):

**pitsi**, **angelggirl13**, and **Shadowpelt2**

I don't think that I would've been able to figure out where I wanted to go with this as quickly as I did if it wasn't for you three and I just want to say thank you (again! :3) for helping me out!

I also want to give a shout out to every one else who's been supporting this story through following, favoriting, and reviewing (those like **MuddyMudkipz123**, **MsNegative24**, **WinerPrincess10114**, and so may others who always have something good to say; sometimes making over a week long conversations from their review c; lolz)! I don't think I say enough how much it means to me when I see a new follow, favorite, and/or review; or how much I appreciate all of you for doing so. I really do appreciate it and it always makes my day every time I see one of those things (because I think someone who reads this is going to have the urge to punch me if I say "follow, favorite, and/or review" again… oops :x) and hope you continue to support me and my story!

I just want you guys to know how much I appreciate every single one of you! 3

Oh! Happy belated Easter! And happy April Fools day (I guess?). Well, I'm not going to play and April Fools joke on you, so I think I'm just going to continue on c:

Now for your regularly scheduled program, I hope you all enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd really love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 17

_He's been gone for awhile now…_ I sigh unhappily to myself, forcing my drooping eyes to stay open. My eyelids have never felt so heavy before. _I hope he returns soon. I'm getting a little worried… It shouldn't have taken this long get kindling; especially when we're in the middle of a forest._

It's probably been nearly an hour since Link had left to get firewood and it's been getting pretty lonely. It's getting harder and harder to stay up, too, given that I've lost so much blood no too long ago. I'm not too sure why my body's nearly immediate response is to pass out, but if Link said for me to stay up despite that, then he must have a good reason.

In an effort to comply with his wishes, I try to distract myself with anything and everything around me to keep the loneliness at bay and my mind awake. My main attack at this is to continually replay the events of the day through my mind, making sure that I remember every sporadic event that has taken place. I don't have much control on a lot of the memories of my life in my own era, so I want to ensure that I don't lose track of any other events within my past.

First, I woke up to find that I was being held captive in an enemy camp where I discovered that strange Shadow Crystal and learned the painful way that I could transform into some sort of canine, most likely a wolf; after taking down a few Bokoblins, I saved Link from an uncertain death by drowning and was blessed by Light Spirit Lanayru for my wisdom; gathered Link's things and started to track down Epona when we thought she was missing; then, no more than an hour ago, I somehow managed to fight and fend off Link's evil clone without dying in the attempt. A lot has happened in such a short period of time that I've nearly forgotten how to measure it.

How long has it been… three, four days since I first awoke in this era? How many days has it been since I found out I was chosen by the Goddesses to be the Chosen Hero? It's mind-boggling actually. I can't believe it has only been a few days and I've gone through so much with a man that I met the day after I awoke here. Even more, it's incredible that I've know Link for only a few days and yet he has become one of the most cherished people I've ever known, even if I currently hold so few of my memories. Somehow, it seems like I've become just as important to Link as he is to me in this short time as well.

I can still feel Link's strong arms wrapped so tightly around me. Although the occurrence was the result of worry, I still openly welcome the fact that it happened and I liked it. It was so warm and safe there that I wouldn't have minded if he never let go. I liked being held so close to him, able to take in his unique scent; the smell of sweet pumpkins lingering on his clothes. If I could, I would've probably never let go; I would spend an eternity in those arms, feeling as if there was nothing else in the world other than the two of us.

"_**I'm getting an emotion, too. Something good."**_ His words echo through my head, making me blush just thinking about it. No matter how much I try to look past it, I can't shake the fact that there was something there; a spark pulling us closer and closer to each other like magnets. _I can't believe he said that… And it really sounded like he meant it…_

I let out a strained sigh, not quite understanding how or why he could say something like that, especially out of the blue like that. If I'm reading into it correctly, then it means he likes me, but that should be impossible. We're from two different eras and he's waiting for his 'special one'. That should mean that this someone is in this time as well and, being from a different era, that someone can't be me. I don't see how work out between us in the first place. Assuming that we both get through this alive, we'll be stuck in our own times, never to speak to each other ever again. It's so painful to think about, being that I care so much about him, that I'd hate to think of the state I would be in if we ever did try to have a… relationship.

"Hey, Epona?" I look over towards the grazing animal who glances over at me in response. "You saw what almost happened earlier, right? That… kiss?"

She nods with a small whinny, her main shaking as she moves, before coming over to stand beside my sitting figure. I smile, glad that I can toss away the though that I had imagined it all. _Thought so…_

I stay silent for a long time as the hurricane of thoughts race through my mind so fast and erratically that I can hardly keep track of them. After awhile, it feels as if I'm lost in a sea of a million questions and concerns where I'm sinking so deep down that I can hardly see what used to be the surface. I'm so confused and lost within an ocean of my own thoughts that I've fallen so far from that originally small thought and I can't tell where my mind is going anymore or where it was coming from.

Epona nudges me, a small whinny coming from her. I smile, petting her snout gently as I can, not wanting to irritate the wound that Link put so much effort into bandaging. "It's alright. I'm fine. Just thinking is all."

She snorts, poking my shoulder a couple times. I look over at her, seeing the concern in her dark eyes as clear as day. She wants to know what's wrong, probably sensing the mix of emotions that are swirling around within me. I find it a little strange that I can understand Epona so well with her being an animal, but I shake the question away. It's likely because I the ability turn into a canine like Link does.

"It's just that I'm a little confused. Well, maybe more than just a little…" I admit, no longer thinking that it's crazy to have a conversation with a horse that I can half understand. She's a female anyway and has that animal sensitivity to other beings emotions, so she's likely to understand my need to vent right now before I pop a blood vessel trying to keep it all in. "See, I think—well, I know—that I have feelings for Link… but I'm not sure what to do about it. Sometimes, it feels like I'm fighting to convince myself that it's not true. It's like I'm afraid of loving him, but I—"

Epona's sudden neighs interrupt me. I can see that what I said has upset her, taking it all the wrong way. She must know things both good and bad about Link that even he himself doesn't know and cares a lot for him, especially since they are partners after all. I know that if someone said something about one of my friends that was even the slightest bit negative, I wouldn't like it so well either; I can understand her being offended.

"No, that's not what I mean. Trust me, he's a great guy," I try to explain myself to her, "but I think it's because I'm scared of it being true… I mean, in the end, when we have to return to our own times, we'll never se each other again. I don't want either of us to be hurt because of that."

She snorts at me, as if to call me foolish. I guess in a way I am. I'm supposed to be the barer of the Triforce of Courage, aren't I? So why am I so afraid? Isn't that a huge contradiction on my part?

With a sigh, I turn away from her to bare an empty gaze towards the forest. It's not like she can _completely_ understand the complex workings of the human mind. We have so many emotions and worries that other species don't have to worry about. In a way, I'd have to say that any species that isn't human is lucky. It's so complicated being human, particularly one that's supposedly expected to save the world from an evil that's out to kill them.

_I really need to get my head on strait. I can't be worrying about having a relationship when there're people out there who need my help._ In desperation, I try to look around and find something else to distract me from my thoughts, not really wanting to think about that almost kiss.

Failing to clear my mind of any of my millions upon millions of questions and worries, I go to rest my hand on the ground beside me, finding that the surface it touches isn't grass, but instead a clothed object. I look over at the item and pick it up, finding it to be one of Link's gauntlets. A smile arises as I pick up the other and hold the pair against my chest, resting my back against one of her front legs while avoiding crushing my quiver; I was lucky that I didn't break the bow or any of the arrows in that fight against Dark. _He was so concerned about getting firewood that he forgot his gauntlets._

Epona knickers, sounding a lot like a horse version of a chuckle before beginning to graze the grass in front of her. I frown at her, feeling my face beginning to burn. "Shut up… I'm just making sure he doesn't lose them. He shouldn't have to worry about searching all over Hyrule's vast lands for a tiny pair of gauntlets."

A snort comes from her, but I pay no attention. I'm too tired to, most my energy being spent fighting Dark and the rest being used to stay up like Link requested. It's getting harder with every minute that passes, but I do my best to push through it and stay strong. Link told me to stay up for a reason and I don't want him to be needlessly worried if he to comes back to see me passed out.

I yawn, pressing his gauntlets on my chest gently against me. _What am I going to do? I really am smitten…_

Looking over to the sound of footsteps hurried approaching from my right, I can slowly begin to make out a silhouette; Link. He's running towards me with a pile of kindling, a relieved, yet tired smile on his face.

"Hey, you stayed up! I thought since I took so long, you'd be out by now." He sets the pile of wood down, kneeling beside me with a blush painted across his cheeks. "You doing alright?"

"Yeah, just a little tired." I smile, hoping that he won't see how tired I really am; without his request, I would've given in to my weakness and fell asleep by now. "I'm fine, really."

"That's good." He smiles seeming both satisfied and relieved. He doesn't say anything else for a while, just staring at me before awkwardly pointing at my chest. "You found my gauntlets."

I gasp, looking between him and the items in my hands a couple times as my face begins to burn with embarrassment. I may not be the barer of the Triforce of Wisdom, but I'm not so dim-witted to not be able to see how bad this looks. I quickly push them towards him, my senses gone sparse as I try to come up with something to recover with. "I—you forgot your gauntlets, so I thought I'd hold on to them for you; so you wouldn't lose them."

He says nothing for a moment as his gaze flickers between me and his gauntlets, smiling sweetly as he takes them in hand. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I can feel my cheeks burning as I struggle to not look him in the eyes, not wanting to lose myself in them like I had before. I'm not so sure that another squirrel would pass by to interfere again and I know for sure that Epona won't. She's more likely to push us together than anything else. _I really need to stop thinking about that… If Link's not going to bring it up, then I need to act like it never happened._

I watch as he puts his gauntlets on the ground beside him and starts to construct the fire just a little bit away from me. My head tilts with my budding curiosity as he begins placing the kindling into a neat tepee formation, dead plants and grass layered thickly under it. I watch him as he walks past me, digging through the things on Epona's back. He returns to the fire with a pair of black rocks, quickly knocking them together near the structure's base. A spark combusts the wood into flames nearly instantly, creating a heat that my slightly cold body openly welcomes.

He looks over at me with a smile, moving to sit beside me. I can feel myself flush, though I try my hardest not to show it by steadily gazing at the warm fire in front of me. I know that if I look at him again, I won't be able to stop myself from exploring the brilliant shades of blue in his eyes again.

"Here." I turn towards Link to see him baring a gentle smile as he holds out a bright red apple towards me, another one in his other hand that I presume is for himself. "It'll help you get some of your strength back."

"Thanks." I smile, taking the apple in hand and take a small bite of the fruit. It's crisp as my teeth sink past its red skin and the juice sweet as I chew. Though the apple is delicious, my stomach doesn't seem to agree. Even though it's been nearly a day's time since the last time I ate, my stomach gives off the sense that it's full, but at the same time, it's not; it's as if it's queasy, too. It's such a strange sensation that I'm not too sure what to make of it. All I can be certain of is that I'm not in the mood to eat. I don't take another bite for a long time, staring into the fire with blank thoughts.

"There something wrong?" Link snaps me back out of my thoughts with an inquiring tone. "Do you not like it?"

"No, it's delicious; I'm just not very hungry for some reason." I say indifferently, attempting to hold in what I believe will be the first of many yawns of the night.

"That's because of all the blood you lost; your body has been thrown into survival mode." He takes a bite of his own apple. I can feel my heart skip a beat as he places a delicate hand on my shoulder. "You need to eat, even if you don't feel like it right now. You'll feel much better later."

"Alright." A smile is forced out to not look like a fool as I nod, taking another small bite of the apple, chewing slowly. _I hope I feel better soon… I can't stay this way for too long or we'll be in danger of finding Dark again and I don't like the possibility of such an occurrence._

We sit for a long time without saying anything to each other, but I can feel Link's careful gaze resting on me. I'm not sure why he continues to stare, but I don't question it. I give in to the thought that he's making sure that I'm really okay and don't pass out on him. It seems like a likely suggestion, so I don't make an effort to come up with any others; I don't particularly want to anyway. Too many of them would make me blush enough to rival the color of my apple that's slowly becoming smaller with each tiny bite I take.

The symphony of the forest is all but hushed; the leaves swaying, crickets chirping, fireflies flashing every once in a while... it's all very serene and a welcomed break from the chaos that's been occurring all day. Glancing over at Link, I can see that he's enjoying the beauty of the moment as well, his eyes gently closed as he listens to the music of the forest. I can't help a smile from spreading across my face as my gaze turns into a long stare, happy to see him being enveloped in a moment of such peace. It's nice to see him smiling after so much time of him frowning.

All of a sudden, Epona's weight shifts, moving her leg just enough to allow me to fall over, my half eaten apple flying out of my hand as my back meets the ground. She whinnies as she takes my apple, chewing the thing whole as she begins walking further into the forest, grazing the grass after a few moments of chewing my apple.

"Gee, thanks, Epona. Couldn't have given me a warning." I twist onto my side to face her. "Why you leaving all of a sudden?"

"I think she just wanted to stretch her legs a bit." He chuckles, a tone to pure that it makes my heart shudder, smitten by the sound. I look over at him, his bright smile shining at me. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Just out an apple." I take the quiver and bow off my back and set them beside me as I lie back down on my back, the ground feeling too comfortable to be true. With all the aching muscles and pounding thoughts in my head, a nice long nap in the comfy blankets of grass sounds really good right about now. If only I could finally rest, oh how my body would be so happy. _I can't rest yet. Unless I pass out, I'm not going to sleep before Link says it's okay for me to._

As I try not to give in to the temptation of rest that the gentle grass offers, I stare up at the trees above us for a long time, not able to see much of the sky that lies past them. Even so, I can still see a few twinkling lights in the sky that make me wonder… will my people be looking up at the same stars in my era like I am? Will they ever be able to look up at the stars without the fear of being caught in the night by the enemy? When will the time come that they won't need to look up at the stars to pray for a better future, but instead be thanking the Goddesses for being able to live a pleasant life after so many years of fear?

_No matter how much I wonder, I know none of it will come to pass until I get back to them and fight the enemy, whoever they are, head on._ The unfortunate fact arises in my mind, which is already worn out from the countless thoughts, questions, and worries that its been battering itself with ever since I awakened here. Unfortunately, I don't think my mind isn't going to take it easy on itself either, continuing the battering session with every moment I fight to stay conscious. _Nothing will be solved until I defeat the enemy, but I don't even know where to start. I don't know who they are, where they're hiding, or what they even want in the first place. My only lead is that the silver-haired man from before it somehow involved in all of this, but I have not clue of how much of a role he plays. He could be just a minion or something, working under a bigger boss. That would mean that someone else could've released Dark, who's also wanting to kill us, but for a completely different reason! There's so may unknown that I don't— _

My thoughts are interrupted as my world becomes dark, the trees no longer visible above me. At first, I think that I reluctantly fell asleep, but then I realize that my eyes are still open and there's a gentle hand resting over them. Before I can say anything, he says in a kind tone, "Go ahead, get some sleep."

I frown, lifting his hand off my eyes. "But I thought you said for me to stay up."

"You've stayed up long enough." He smiles as he takes his hand away. "Besides, it looks as if you're going to overflow yourself with questions again."

"You can tell?" I mumble as I sit up, my face feeling flushed. _I must be a very open book to read…_

He doesn't do anything except smile softly at me. "It's alright for you to have questions; we all do from time to time. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm not ashamed, it's just that…" I let out a deep breath, hoping it would help clear my head. "I guess I'm feeling the pressure of being a Hero. I'm supposed to free my people of the evil that's been looming over us for so long, but I don't know who or what this evil is; nor can I remember very much of it. It seems like part of me doesn't want to remember…"

He's silent for a long time, but then lays his hand on mine. "Don't worry. It'll all work out in the end."

"How do you know that?"

"Because no matter what you're going to need to go through or who you'll have to face, I'll be right there beside you. As long as we have each other, there's nothing that can beat us." He smiles assuringly back at me, settling some of my anxious nerves. "You won't have to go through this alone. I promise."

I can't help smiling back at him; his smile is actually quite contagious. It makes me feel that much more stronger and relaxed, lifting some of the weight off my shoulders. "I think you already promised me that."

"I don't think it hurts to reiterate it." He chuckles. "Now get some sleep. We still have a bit of way to travel to get to the next Spirit Spring and I don't want you falling off Epona on our way there."

"Alright…" I yawn as I agree for once; usually I'd fight him on it, but not right now. I'd be a complete idiot if I didn't listen to him now; my body and mind are too worn out for me to be stubborn anyway. I curl up on my side, facing him as I fold my hands under my cheek as I quickly cherish the soft feeling of my grass bedding. We smile at each other for a long moment before I close my eyes, nearly whispering, "Good night, Link."

"Good night, Nasia."


	18. Chapter 18

You would not believe the trouble I had with writing this chapter. Well… you might, actually. Have you ever had that moment of inspiration of what you want to do in a story or chapter and when you got to it, you didn't know _how_ you wanted to write it? For me, this is one of those painfully difficult chapters, the most arduous part being the beginning! Goddesses, did I not know what to write for it! Thankfully, since I've taken a few AP courses in high school (which I will be graduating from later this spring *knock on wood* lolz), my knack for BS-ing came out so somehow save the day :3 though I promise you that I put _much_ more effort than that once I came up with some loose drabble for this chapter c:

_**Note to self**_ (and a good tip for anyone else): in a moment of inspiration, try to think of as many details as you can and write them down! Otherwise you may never get it back no matter how hard you try to rethink it! DX

I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint any of you, being as this chapter is just a little less shippy than the last couple chapters have been and I know a few of you just love the shippy-ness so far (especially in the last chapter c; ). I think from now on, there's going to be a lot more shippy moments occurring (while still having all the important plot points and serious moments that I have planned such as this one) with Link and Nasia as we slowly inch from chapter to chapter to their eventual love confessions.

Speaking of which, don't you have a love-hate relationship with the slow crawl with so many couples to that point? Whether it be a manga, fanfics, tv series, (etc.) I know at first I'm like, "Awww~! So cute~!" but then I'm just like, "Get together already, you idiots! UGGHHH!" (cue "screaming at tv/computer for whatever reason and looking like a crazy person" act) :3

Oh! On a different note, I drew a picture of Link and Nasia (half of it being the newer image for this fic). I put it up on my Deviantart account, so why don't you go check it out. My Deviantart account has the same penname as this one (Moon13Dreams) just in case you do want to look at it (I do have an appreciation for shonen-ai and yaoi so please don't be offended by one of my other sketches or my favorites). I must warn you though, it was drawn after months of not touching my sketchbook, so it's not the best portrayal of them (especially with Link's hat; Goddesses that was a pain to try to draw!). Still, it's a glimpse into what I see. I'll be trying to work on more sketches for this fic that hopefully turn out better than this latest one (I'll also try to put the ones I drew months ago, too). I don't know how many other artists (other than the novelistic types) are on here or looking at this fic, but if anyone else wants to do fan art for this fic, just please notify me and give me credit for my story c:

Anyway, I guess I shoud lessen then wait there was for this next chapter (since it did regretably take so long to get this out). But first, aside from my randomly tangent thoughts there, would you like to know when Nasia's and Link's confessions will be? No? Alright, I guess you just want to keep reading and find out on your own, right? lolz :3

As always, I hope you all enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd really love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 18

"Nasia, this way!" He calls across the wide open field painted with faded shades of green, anxiously motioning for me to follow him to the other side of the hill he's now standing on top of. "I want to show you something!"

"Alright, alright! Slow down!" I call back with a roll of my eyes, quickly running after him after glancing behind me; I notice that there's a campsite visible just a little ways behind me. For a moment, I think about running back, but I don't for some reason; and yet I do. My body has acted like this before; moving on its own and having emotions mysteriously fester within me while paying no attention to what my mind is thinking. There's only one thing this can be.

Though I'm not quite sure of what's going on, but I'm pretty sure this is a memory. Even if my body were to listen to me, this is all too real to be anything like a dream. I can feel the sun's warm rays on my skin, the breeze entangling my hair as I move… I just wish I knew where and when this peaceful place existed. All I can really tell is that I'm in this oddly open field on a bright summer's day and I'm following this boy through it to where ever he wants me to go.

After I get a bit closer to him, I realize that I actually know this boy very well. He's my best friend, the very same boy that had almost drowned in one of my earlier memories, but he looks older; much older. His dark hair is longer, long enough for his bangs to partially shade his strangely bright green eyes from view. He's grown a bit taller, too, now probably around five feet or even a little higher; he can't be more than thirteen. Judging by my size and stature, I bet I'm along the lines of fourteen or fifteen; probably and most likely the former. I can tell that my body is still growing a bit, my eye level not quite as high as I'm used to.

"You know we're not supposed to be straying far from the campsite!" I frown as I catch up to him, looking back at the camp to make sure that we're sill within ears reach of the others. I don't like the idea of being too far from the others. I know that there's a likely chance that an enemy can sneak up on us; yet, at the same time, a devastating thought sweeps across my mind. Even if there is an attack, this is a memory, I wouldn't do anything different than what occurred in the first place; I'm essentially trapped in my body as spectator. "We can be in real danger if the Bokoblins attack again."

"Don't worry, we're not that far away." He calmly smiles, turning towards the scene in front of us. "Besides, the Bokoblins haven't found us since early spring. We're fine. This is what I wanted to show you anyway."

I look out to see a huge field of flowers below us with every color of the rainbow sprinkled throughout the large area, every tiny petal shining vibrantly under the sun's brilliant rays. I know that I've never seen a flower field as huge as this before since finding any part of nature that the Bokoblins hadn't destroyed is a very rare thing indeed for this time, whenever it might be. I smile, remembering the feeling the hope bubbling up inside me for a brighter future as it had the first time I experienced this. I knew that if this flower field could survive the past six years of brutal war, then so could we.

As peaceful as the scene seems to be, I can't shake the bad feeling in my gut that's beginning to arise within me, which is never good. My gut is unfortunately right nine times out of ten. I just hope that this is the one time that it's wrong. I'm not ready for this memory to go bad as well. "We need to head back. Everyone's help is needed to set up camp as quickly as we can."

"We were almost done anyway." He waves me off, starting to travel further down the hill to the edge of the field of flowers. I look at him with a sigh, taking one last glance at the campsite before turning back to follow him down the relatively steep hill. When I get to his side, barely managing to not trip in the process, he smiles, bending down to pick a flamboyantly bright blue flower. He tucks the flower in the hair behind my ear with a bright glimmer in his eyes. I sigh, not able to resist smiling; I know he means well and can sense my anxiety. If my memories don't lie, he is my best friend after all, so I suppose it's normal to be concerned and want to make me feel better. "You're always such a worry wart. Why don't you take a moment to just relax? There's nothing to harm us out here."

"Don't jinx that; and I'm our group's leader, remember? There's a lot of responsibility that goes a long with that and relaxing isn't one of them." A frown settles firmly on my face. I can feel the pressure on me like a huge bolder had been placed on my shoulders and I couldn't afford to put it down for even a moment; the lives of those both younger and older dependant on my guidance. Without me, it's likely that they wouldn't have lasted too long after the passing of my father. I didn't realize it at the time, but I can vaguely recall that I was only able to become mature and responsible enough to carry that burden was a story that I my mother had told me as a child. I can't quite remember what that story was at the moment, but I know that in my past, that story had always made me feel just a little bit braver and stronger in spirit. "I don't know how it even happened; I'm _fourteen_ for the Goddesses sake! I'm not as old or experienced with a sword like the rest of knights; they've seen so many more battles than I have! How do they expect me to be as great a leader as my father was?!"

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times before." He sighs, shaking his head at me. "It's because you're the one always giving us hope that tomorrow will be a brighter day; you give us the strength to continue on, even if we can't see the light at the end of the tunnel."

"Even then, I'm not a tactical genius or anything. I barely know how to use my own sword."

"And who was it that slain nearly half of those Bokoblins earlier this spring all on her own?" He raises an eyebrow at me. I can feel myself beginning to shrink, not needing to remember the event to know that that's a fact. "Who was the one that suggested that we danced around the boarders to avoid another collision with them? Who—"

"Okay, okay, you made you're point." I roll my eyes not needing to hear anymore to know that I'm not going to win with him, though my current consciousness is curious as to what I had done; many things about my past are a complete mystery to me, so every bit I can gather is one step closer to putting together the complicated puzzle that has been lain before me. "But I don't think that makes me a leader. All I've done is what's needed to be done to keep everyone safe."

"Nasia, that's the whole _point_ of being a leader." He sighs again. "Whether you can accept that fact or not is something completely different."

"Yeah, yeah." I wave it off, staring at the flower field before me with stress beginning to simmer, which I find is an unfortunately familiar feeling for me. It seems like I'm always having something to worry about.

I can tell that having such an important role was intimidating to me back then. I had to do everything I could to ensure the safety of my people, even though I didn't think I deserved to have the title of 'leader'. As I think about it for awhile, I guess it's not that much different than my role as Hero; just multiply the consequences my possible failure by a thousand and add the weight of the world on your shoulders, and there you have it, all the risks and pressures of being the Hero.

In a way, I'm glad it's me. If I relived every life like this, which I think is probable due to the Light Spirits mentioning something about Link being unusually unable to be reborn in my era, instead of someone else, then I guess it's not that bad. I'm guessing there aren't many people who can really handle that kind of pressure and still function normally, so if me playing this role prevents someone else from feeling this stress and pain, then I'm happy to be the Hero. _Maybe that's what Link has so much guilt with me being a Hero. Maybe he didn't want anyone to suffer… but I'm not really suffering, am I? Yes, playing this role isn't the easiest thing in the world and I've seen plenty of bloodshed, including my own, but I've come to terms with it. I'm not happy to see the people I care about being hurt or even dying, but being the Hero means that I have a pretty good chance at saving them, right? I should have the strength to end the pain for them, even if it means that I have to sacrifice my own life in order to do that. If I've come to terms with that, then I'm surely not suffering, right?_

"Nasia?" I glance back over at him. "When this war is all over, will you help me regain the land in the name of my parents? I don't think I'll be able to rule it all by myself."

"Well, of course." I smile, though I'm actually a little perplexed by what he had said. It doesn't make much sense to me as I say, "We're all going to be helping you, remember? We all have your back in this."

"That's not what I mean." His gaze wonders for a moment as his cheeks begin to flush. "I mean… like… in matrimony…"

"M-Matrimony?!" The statement catches me off guard, both in the memory and in the present, but for two different reasons. It had never come across my mind that I had been purposed to in my past, especially since I'm so young; I currently can't be much more than seventeen. Even more, I never thought that I would hear this coming from my best friend. Yet, I can tell that there's even more that I had been taken aback by, at least, in my memory. "B-But, I'm not even a noble; I'm just a commoner! Besides that, we're way too young to be thinking about things like marriage!"

"So? I really like you, Nasia, and—"

"Adkin, you're trying to grow up too quickly; you're only thirteen." I frown, sighing heavily. "You might be the prince, but you should be worrying more about getting your kingdom back and learning how to rule it than finding a wife."

"Many kings have married at younger ages than thirteen. My great-great-grandfather, for example, was married at the age of six."

I sigh, my heart beginning to hurt. I don't want to say the words in my mind that I know will be spoken, but there's nothing I can do; the scene is going to play out exactly how it happened the first time and I don't think I'm going to like it. "Adkin, you're my best friend, but look… I… I can't agree to marry you. We're way too young and I've never thought of you of anything more than my friend; my _best _friend, but still… I'm sorry…"

"No, don't be." He looks away for a moment, barely hiding his face from my view. I can tell he's disappointed, which only adds to the guilt I'm feeling. "You're right, we are young. We should be focusing on saving the kingdom instead. Bad timing on my part…"

_I'm sorry…_ I sigh, feeling bad for crushing his heart like that, feeling as if I was stabbed in my heart with a bitter blade. At the same time, I didn't know what to do other than tell the truth. I can tell that at the time, I wasn't interested in getting married or even having a relationship; in fact, I don't think I could care less at that point in my life. I was more concerned with protecting my people to think of something as frivolous as that.

I wonder if this is anything like what Link had felt when he had rejected Princess Zelda and that other girl… I think Ilia was her name? I think he was pretty close to those two at the time if what Telma said was true, so it must've been hard for him. I don't think he was as young or getting purposed to as I was, which I think might be one of the ultimate forms of showing love and dedication if not the only form, but still… There hearts must've been broken as Adkin's had been and I know how much Link hates the people he cares about being hurt. It must've hurt him even more since the one delivering the pain was him…

-/~/~/~/-

Stirring from my sleep, I look around, realizing that I'm still at the campsite with Link. I look over to see that he has fallen asleep as well. I smile, sitting up as my gaze continues to stay focused on him. _Poor thing… He really pushed himself too hard yesterday, didn't he?_

All of a sudden, my dream comes back to me, the reality of the details slamming into me like a firmly standing stone wall. The most dumbfounding fact being that I was purposed to. I definitely didn't see that one coming. _Oh my Goddesses… I was purposed to by a prince?! My childhood friend is the Hyrulian heir to the throne and he wanted to marry me?! I can't believe this… My best friend... the prince of Hyrule._

A thousand questions rush into my head, seeming to crash down on my mind like I'm sitting at the bottom of the eternal waterfall of questions. So many questions and conclusions fill my head at such a painfully fast rate that I think I'm going to get a head bleed from the overload. _Why did he want to purpose to me of all people; I wasn't even the Hero yet, so what made me so special?! And why so young? We barely hit puberty for the Goddesses sake! Why in all the vast lands of Hyrule would a boy of his age be thinking of marriage?! What a minute, why was he in the group in the first place; it would be more logical for him to be with the King and Queen. Did something happen to them…? Does this have something to do with why Hyrule is in shambles? Maybe it's a family issue? I guess that would be possible; I mean, there have been other cases such as that, but have they ever escalated to such an extent to cause the lands to seemingly die? What in the world is really going on?! Why do I always have to have so many questions with so little answers… Ugh! This is so frustrating! Why did I have to forget everything?! If I knew what was going on, then I would be able to at lease come up with a plan or something! Damn it!_

I sigh, falling back onto my back to stare up at the tree leaves that dangle so loosely above. I can tell by the lighter shade of blue in the sky behind those thick branches of greenery that the sun is going to rise soon. A frown exposes itself when the thought that I probably didn't get very much sleep at all. Considering the weakened condition of my body due to the damage I had taken in that fight last night, I don't think sleep deprivation is going to do any good for me. _I just hope that I don't fall off of Epona when we start traveling again._

A thought runs through my mind as I slowly sit up, looking towards the area Epona had wondered off to. The lingering traces of the path she had taken doesn't have a remnants of her return, which worries me. _It looks like Epona wondered off again… I hope nothing happened to her like yesterday… What exactly happened anyway?_

"Nasia…?" I glance over at the source, expecting to have a pair of worried eyes staring at me again. Instead, I look over at Link to see that he's sound asleep, enraptured in some kind of dream. He stirs, shifting onto his other side as he continues to mumble softly in his sleep.

I giggle, sitting up to watch him in his sleep. At first, I think myself a creeper and should be waking him up instead, but, at the same time, he's very… entertaining to watch. He stirs a lot, but usually not in a bad way. It's more like watching a dog dreaming of chasing something; it does the action in real life, too. Link doesn't exactly sleepwalk or anything, but he does kind of express the emotions that he experiences with the expressions on his face. It's as if every expression he makes in his dreams is seemingly made in reality as well.

Slowly and steadily standing up, I tip-toe to the other side of him, seeing his peaceful face happily engulfed in what ever dream he's having. Why he said my name, I have no clue, but it certainly was cute. He sounded a little happy as he said it. It's strange and scary, but exciting all at the same time. I kind of… wish that his smile really is meant for me, though I know it's completely foolish to do so.

_Ironic…_ I sigh as I sit beside his sleeping figure, happy to just be beside him. _I wasn't worried about a relationship when I was younger, especially with my best-friend-the-prince, but now… I'm fighting myself to not think of it. What changed me?_

He smiles again in his sleep, which makes me smile, too. I'm glad that he's finally getting some rest, especially after everything that happened yesterday; he came closer to death than I did and continued on with much less rest than I got. Compared to him, these scratches and bruises are minuscule injuries; I'm still amazed and very glad that he lived through all that. Still, even though he had been treated by the Spirit Spring water, I'm sure overexerting himself like he has been had finally caught up with him. I bet he fell asleep on accident.

_The sun's going to be rising very soon…_ I look up at the barely visible sky above, then look back at Link. A smile still stays gently spread across his lips. I shake my head, knowing that even if I had to, I wouldn't be able to wake him up; not when he looks so peaceful. With the guilt and frustration that's been occurring within him recently, I can't find any good reason to rob him of this moment of serenity. _I should let him be; he needs his rest after all. There wouldn't be much harm in waiting just a little bit longer before heading to Faron's Spirit Spring. I think he said it would be about a day's journey there or something like that; I'm not quite sure… We should be good as long as we leave before noon reaches us; I just hope Link wakes up before then…_

With a sigh, I lean back on my hands to find that they still hurt quite a bit, the deeper layers of my penetrated skin stinging from the pressure being put on them. I suck in my breath and quickly take the pressure off of them. I glare at my bandages with a loathing passion, the injuries quickly becoming annoying hindrance. The only thing I can really be thankful for is that the deeper, more painful cut is in my left hand. Even though my right hand is injured as well, it should still able to hold my sword with enough capabilities to fight if I need to. Being as people like Dark and that silver-haired man are still out there and each probably plotting on how they want to kill us at this very moment, wherever they might be, any kind of fighting seems inevitable.

_I just hope my hands will heal before then._ I frown, looking around carefully. I find it amazing that we weren't snuck up on while we both were sleeping. If we had, I'm sure we would've been captured again or killed.

"No…" Link mumbles, his smile massacred by the frown that now overtakes the expression on his face. As he stirs again, this time uneasily, I realize that his pleasant dream has somehow been spoiled, beginning to turn a full one-eighty into some kind of nightmare.

"Hey, wake up." I begin to shake his shoulder urgently. By the looks of it, the dream is getting bad fast, in fact, worse and worse by the second. "Come on, Link, you need to wake up! It's just a dream!"

No amount of shaking wakes him as he continues on his dream, seemingly whimpering. With the seconds passing like slow hours, I begin to feel small and useless; knowing that there's nothing I can do to wake him up, at least not without Epona's help and it seems she had wondered off while we were asleep. All I can do is watch him, a pang guilt hitting me like a poison tipped blade making slow, tiny incisions into my heart. Even if it's just a dream, I'm still unable to help him, just like I was unable to save my people in that ambush.

_Will I ever really be strong enough to help any one?_ Frown, then begin to prey to the Goddesses to wake him while he continues to go through his nightmare. Every silent moment that I watch makes my anger boil within me, knowing that I should be able to do something. I touch his shoulder, hoping that his spirit would feel mine and be put a little at ease, but it appears to do no good.

The expression on his face is a cross between a state of urgency and panic, almost seeming to be as if he's scared and lost I begin to wonder if he's reliving a bad event from his past as I had a night or so ago. He's probably fought quite a few battles and had his unfair share of frightening situations as well. Maybe he can't escape his past either. True, I've lost my memories, but I'm slowly regaining them; I bet that if I forgot everything again, I'd continue to force myself to remember. Link, on the other hand, he has all of his memories to look back upon, both the good and the bad. I can't imagine what that's like, at least, not yet. Maybe one day I will and I hope that day is soon so that I can actually be of some real use to the people I cherish and long to protect.

"No… Stop." His mumbles are becoming increasingly louder, causing my worry to escalate even more. Seeing him being in such pain hurts me; I'd say just as much as he's hurting, but I can't really say that for sure since I don't know what he's going through. Suddenly, he shoots up gasping for his breath, reaching out for something that isn't there, as he yells, "Nasia!"

"Link." I place my hand carefully on his shoulder so I don't startle him. I'm a little scared, he looks so shaken up by whatever happened in that dream. I try to shake his shoulder to pull him from his trance. "Please, snap out of it."

"Wha—?" He doesn't turn towards me, instead just looks at this hand. I suppose he's hardly heard me. "A dream? That was a—"

"A dream? Yes." I finish for him, causing him to finally realize that I'm next to him. "Are you alright? It looked like you were having a nightmare…"

"Yeah, I'm—" He stops with wide eyes. "Goddesses! I fell asleep?!"

"Hey, calm down; it's fine. The sun has barely risen and there's not an enemy in sight." I try to soothe his jumpy nerves with a smile. "I'm glad that you got some rest though; you looked like you really needed it."

He lets out a sigh, running his fingers through his blond bangs with a scowl on his face as he looks away emptily at the grass beside him. He begins muttering words that I can barely piece together. "I can't believe I put us in danger like that… and so easily, too. I must be out of it. I never did something so foolish last time…"

"Link, are you alright?" I stare at him, biting my lip slightly with worry. If I know anything, talking to yourself isn't a good sign of anything. Sometimes it's evidence of being a genius, but I don't think this is one of those times.

"Huh? Yeah… Just fine." He answers too quick for comfort that it leaves me struggling for more words to speak. It's almost like déjà vu, except this time, he doesn't have the icy tone of yesterday. Still, all the same, it makes me speechless.

I can see from his tense body language and the light furrow of his brow that it's a blatant lie to not worry me, but it's still a lie, which worries me even more. I can't think of anything so bad that he wouldn't want to talk to me about, but then again, we have only known each other for a few days; maybe he doesn't completely trust me yet. That possibility hurts me to even think about when I already trust him so much.

"You're not fooling anyone." I frown and cup his face with my hands, forcing him to look at me. For a moment, I think of how soft his face feels, much softer than I think any average man's face should feel like, but I quickly toss the thought away as I focus on the problem at hand. Link just stares back at me with dilated eyes as registers what had happened as he was so abruptly fished out of his thoughts. "Just tell me what's wrong. I can tell that there's something that's clearly bothering you."

"It's nothing—"

"No, it's not!" I cross my arms firmly in my frustration. I don't know why he's trying to hide whatever this is from me, but I don't like it whatsoever. We're both Heroes who're both trying to save the future of Hyrule, so I don't see why he would want to keep something inside so defensively. "Ever since yesterday, you've been acting so hard on yourself and I don't understand it…"

"Nasia…" He stares at me for a moment before letting out a heavy breath. He looks as if he doesn't want to say anything as his eyes slowly trail their way back towards me, as if debating with himself whether or not to speak. "Alright… The last time I had to save Hyrule, I was nearly alone. I did have my friends to worry about and there were plenty of times that they were put in some real danger as well, but I—no one was in as much danger then as you are now. You're going to constantly be in harms way, if not even more that I was when I fought against Ganondorf and the forces of Twilight, and I wasn't always in the safest of situations; there were times that I had nearly died trying to accomplish what should've been the simplest of tasks and I don't want you to go through that. I don't want to see anything like that happen to you."

I can only look into his worry-filled eyes, sincerely touched by his words. I knew that he felt guilty that have to fill in his role as the Hero in my era, but I didn't know it was eating at him to such an extent. It makes my heart flutter, but at the same time, he should know by now that I don't particularly care what I have to go through to ensure my people's safety, even if I can hardly remember them. I may not have recovered all of my memories just yet, but of what I've recalled so far, it's not like I haven't seen my far share of the blood of war and battlefields before.

"Link, even though many of my memories are still missing, I can tell that I've been in danger all my life, even before I was chosen to become the Hero. A life style like this isn't all that different than what I'm used to." With a small breath, I let a smile settle in hope that he would calm down even the slightest bit. "I really don't want to die, but I can't let that stop me from doing what I need to do. Whether it be through some kind of twisted mix up or organized by the hands of fate, I am to be the next Hero of Time and bare the Triforce in the Goddesses' name. I have to protect Hyrule and all its people from whatever force threatens it no matter what. So, as far as I'm concerned, if it means that the people I cherish, like you and my brother, will be safe, then I don't care what I have to go through; even if it means almost dying in the process."

He sighs, shaking his head. "I'm trying to make it so that you don't have to risk your life wherever you go. You don't have to put yourself in harms way all the time."

"We're going to be in danger until whatever's threatening Hyrule is put to rest, but we're not going to let them have their free rein forever. We'll be able defeat them no matter what if we stick together." I smile, taking his hat off his head and quickly stand up. As he scrambles to reclaim his hat, I giggle, "Now, let's go. We have a Spirit Spring to get to."

"Hey!" He says with a bit of a lighter tone, standing to chase me. "Come on, give me that back!"

I begin to run and make a quick turn around a tree, finding a small smile falling gently on his face. It makes me relieved to see that smile on his face and know that I've cheered him up a little bit. In a way, I suppose it's repayment for cheering me up yesterday. If he hadn't, I probably would've lingered on my doubts of my abilities. I think I can say that I don't need to do that very much anymore after my fight with Dark. I still have a ways to go before I can be as skilled as the Heroes that have come before me, but I'm not completely unskilled; if I was, I surely would've died yesterday at one point or another.

As I weave myself through the twisted patterns of tree trunks around the dying fire that barely continues to burn, I can tell that Link is very close behind me, nearly close enough to snag his treasured hat right out of my grasp. I try to increase my speed, but whilst distracted, I trip over a discretely hidden tree trunk that barely sticks up out of the ground. I somehow find that in the effort to catch me, Link has tripped as well and is essentially pinning me to the ground. I can feel my face burn as he stares down at me with a red face as well for a long moment as it seems that we're both wondering how we ended up in this position.

After awhile, he begins to reach for the hat and I move it just out of reach, reclaiming the confident smirk I had just a few moments before. "Nah ah, you're not getting this until you've cheered up."

"I think I'm cheered up enough." A smirk plays on his lips as he begins to tickle my sides. Even through the thin chain mail that lies under my tunic acts like a barrier, he still manages to successfully tickle me enough to squirm as I laugh, tears beginning to come to the corners of my eyes. While lost in my fit of laughter, he snatches the hat from me and puts it back on his head with a triumphant grin. "Ha. I win."

"No, I did. I got you to smile again." I laugh bashfully as I remember the awkward position we're in. It makes my heart beat just a little faster as I stare up at him, once again caught in the gaze of his beautiful eyes. "You've been frowning too much."

"Yeah… I have, haven't I?" He begins to get off of me, sitting on the ground beside me.

"That's what I just said." I giggle, sitting up to sit beside him as I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear nervously, trying to think of something else to say. "But I'm glad you're feeling better now. You've had me worried for awhile, especially with that dream you had."

"My dream?" He looks back at me with a glimmer of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You were stirring in your sleep a lot." I explain with my nerves beginning to calm. "You even said my name a couple times."

"I what?!" His face becoming consumed by the deep redness of his cheeks to light up like a fresh tomato. "Did I say anything else?!"

"No, not really." I just stare at him. "Why? What was your dream about?"

"N-Nothing!" He defends as he glances away for a slight instant before looking back at me again, probably recognizing the frown on my face that has begun to form. "I—I can't quite remember."

"Well, alright…" I look away with a bit of frustration, not knowing for sure whether he's lying again or not, but I don't want to linger on it. After all, no one can remember every dream they've had, so he might be telling the truth. _Why doesn't he want to say anything to me anymore? It's like he's trying to hide something from me…_

"Come on." Looking back over at Link, I find his hand stretched out towards me with a smile settled on his face. "Let's get going; we still have a bit of a ways to go before we reach Faron's Spirit Spring."

Though I'm still troubled that he doesn't want to tell me about his dream, I convince myself that it's not that big of a deal. I smile, taking his hand to stand. _I guess he'll tell me after some time has passed. Though, I really do wonder why he doesn't want to tell me about his dream… What could be so bad that he doesn't want to talk about it?_


	19. Chapter 19

I'm really truly dearly sorry for taking so long to update! I really didn't plan on the wait being so long, but I had quite a few personal things come up and I hadn't been able to catch up with writing until now :/ Again, I'm really sorry for such a long wait! DX

Anyway, so this is another chapter in which I had that thing where I knew what I wanted, but not how to write it (which also adds to the lateness of this chapter). Yet, once I started writing, I started going off on a tangent that I never planned on taking (I like to put my pen on paper and pre-write parts of my chapters when I'm in classes) and had to somehow tie it back in so it made sense and had some kind of relevance that wasn't so far out there that it distracted from the plot of the story. I think it's because I have so many plot points that I've thought of, but they won't really come into play into a long ways ahead for these two almost love-struck adventurers. I just hope I don't lose any of these ideas before I can write them!

Even though I've been writing these plot points down, I can't remember half of the places that I put those papers. See, with all the new story ideas and plot points I come up with daily, I have a folio, a flash drive, and three or four notebooks dedicated to my fanfictions; plus, my desk is littered with different scraps of sticky notes and papers with story details, titles, etc. (if you can apply it to a story, I probably have it somewhere in this huge mess I call my room XD lolz). It seems like no matter how much I try to organize all my stuff, it stays clean for about two seconds before falling apart again. Is this something that happens only to me or am I not alone in this "disorganized mess" curse? Lolz, I'd love to hear about other people's troubles if I'm not, you know? c:

Oh dear, I went on another tangent, didn't I? I guess with these author's notes, I just let my fingers fly mindlessly over the keyboard a little too much… :/

Anyway, as I started to say before, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint anyone! I won't spoil anything that occurs in this chapter, but I will promise this one single thing. Eventually, and hopefully without taking another ten chapters, Nasia and Link will get to their destination (where ever that may be c: lolz)… in one piece? Eek gasp! What do I mean by "in one piece"?! You'll just have to keep reading and see! c: lolz

Oh! And before we get too much further in this chapter, I'm going to have to apologize for the lateness of future chapters that I'll post, but I'll try my best to be writing more chapters as soon as I can! I say this because I have quite a few major events going on in my personal life that's going to be taking up a lot of time (some expected and some not expected). What might they be? Well, for starters, I just had my high school graduation (and I have whole bunch of other things that go with it, such as college orientations and scheduling and all that jazz) and I finally got my first job. For those who have yet to get to this point in their lives, let me just tell you, it's as exciting as it is scary! You never know how fast time really goes by until you're nearly done with high school. But if I can make it through this, I'm sure anyone can c:

My life is really starting to take a major turn, but that's not going to stop me from continuing to write no matter how much time lies between each posting! I love it way too much to stop! Though I guess posting chapters (for this story and others as well) will become unfortunately a little more sparse once I get into that college routine. You don't have anything to worry about for right now, but I'll definitely tell you guys when I start classes so that you guys will know c:

Anyhow, as I always wish oh so dearly when I post a chapter, I hope you all enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd really love to hear what you have to say!

* * *

The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 19

As I begin to place my bow and empty quiver on my back, Link calls Epona with her strangely shaped whistle. Without too much time passing, she returns from the area she had wondered off to last night with a small whinny. She pokes at Link with her snout, casing a smile to surface on his face; one that I've grown to adore.

I smile as well, picking up his gauntlets from a patch of grass near the fire pit. I hand him his gauntlets and begin to pet Epona's side. "Hey, Link."

"Yes?" He looks up at me for a moment before continuing to put on his gauntlets.

"Where does Epona always wonder off to all the time anyway? It's a little strange for a horse not to stay by its rider."

"That's just what we do. It's… a mutual agreement of sorts." He tries to explain. "See, I've always seen Epona as a friend and vise versa; we trust each other. I let her go where she pleases and whenever I need her, all I have to do is call her with her Horse Call and she'll always be ready to assist me. No matter how far away she may be, she'll almost always come."

"So that's what it's called." I say more to myself than to him. I've been wondering what that strange whistle was for a little while now. "How does she always hear it? I mean, the sound can only travel so far; she surely must be outside that range sometimes."

"It's… I guess it's more like a call to her spirit than a physical call by the ear. No matter where she is, she will always want to answer the call."

I nod, beginning to pat Epona's snout. "How do you think Dark got a hold of her? Do you think he mimicked the call or something like that?"

"She told me yesterday that she herd the call and answered it as she always would, but found him to be the source of the sound instead of me. She said he spoke words that she couldn't understand and everything got hazy from thereon." He pats Epona's side before mounting on her back with a frown on his face. "She almost mistook Dark for me and it seems that allowed him to cast some sort of dark spell on her."

I frown as well, not liking Epona being mistreated by that twisted man. "What do you mean? He doesn't look very much like you at all. I don't think anyone would be able to mistake him for you."

"When I was fighting against the Twilight, Dark was always hunting for ways to take me out and scoured the ends of Hyrule for more knowledge on dark magic between our encounters. One day, he approached me looking near identical to me. It seems like he used that same trick when he called for Epona." He holds out his hand and helps me up as I try not to wince when too much pressure is put on my hand wound. He gives me an apologetic look. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine." I smile through the stinging aftershock of the pain and wrap my arms around his waist. "I'll be fine."

He just lets out a small sigh with a worried smile on his face as he begins to urge Epona forwards through the brush. "But, anyway, his appearance wasn't the only thing the he used to fool her. You we're with him; knocked unconscious, but with him nonetheless."

"I was—" I stop as I recall the short span of moments before I found myself passed out at the camp. There was nothing to argue against that Dark had captured me so easily and not only me, but Dark as well, know it. The thought of how easy it has been for someone to capture me makes my blood boil. _How could I have been so reckless?! If I'm going to save Hyrule, I can be captured every five minutes!_

"Don't worry," Link's voice causes me to look up at him, "I won't let him touch you."

"I'm not worried about that; it's… it seems like I've been so useless." I sigh, leaning my head against his back. "All I've done is get myself captured all the time and you're always getting hurt, too. A Hero is supposed to be the one doing the saving, right? But instead it seems like I'm the one who's always needing the saving."

"Nasia, that's not true." Epona stops in her tracks. I look at Link confused as he turns around to face me, sitting sideways on Epona; I pull my arms away as I just stare back at him, a skeptical frown plastered on his face that seems like a near scowl. "If it weren't for you, I'd probably be dead by now, remember? You're much stronger than you give yourself credit for."

"I…" My words escape me as I begin to recall what little memories I have. In at least half of them, someone is needing me. Most of the time, it's my brother, but I know that my people need me as well; even Adkin said so. Yet it always seems like I'm falling short. During that ambush, when my people were in need of me the most, I failed them. "I don't—"

"Don't what?" He interrupts. He turns my face to look at him and I can feel my heart skip a beat as our eyes meet. "Didn't you just say that you weren't afraid to risk your life for your people? They need a Hero, Nasia. They need you."

"But all I seem to do is fail… A Hero doesn't fail." I mumble barely above a whisper, glancing away. _Why am I so afraid? It's not even of death; it's failing. One moment, I'm brave and then the next I'm weak-kneed and scared… I don't want to feel this way, but this feeling just continues to dig at me. I don't want to fail everyone… but the chances seem so likely…_

"We can defeat anything that tries to get in our way, remember? You said that yourself." I look back at him again to see the brilliant blues of his eyes shining so brightly. I can see the confidence he has in me. "You're not going to do this alone; you have me and your people by your side every step of the way. There's no way you can fail. All you have to do is believe in yourself and believe in the all of us. That's all you have to do."

I let out a small sigh. "You make it sound so easy…"

"Because it is, even though it doesn't seem like it." He smiles gently. "I know what it's like to have the lives of so many depending on you. I know how scary that can be, but you need to focus on how happy they'll be when it's all over. No matter what, as long as you keep them with you, you'll be able to do anything."

For a moment, I feel like all of my doubts have been pushed away. It's as if Link has taken all of the weight off my shoulders and allowed me to breath again; but that only lasts for a moment. I realize that I've been rescued again; from myself, but rescued nonetheless. "Is it bad that I'm like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"That I get scared like this. I'm supposed to wield the Triforce of Courage, so it seems… wrong to me that I get so scared and nervous like this all the time."

He sighs. "Do you know what courage really is?"

"Well, it's…" I think for a moment, never really putting much thought into the word. In hindsight, with everything else that has been brewing, worrying about my vocabulary isn't one of my top priorities at the moment. "Doing things that others wouldn't?"

"Not exactly. It's doing something even though your afraid." He smiles, pulling me into a hug. "You're human. It's alright to be scared. We all are at some point, it's not just you."

My breath is taken from me faster than I've ever thought I could be. It makes my face burn to be surrounded by his arms again, but I can't help smiling and hugging him back. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it. Everyone needs a pep talk every once in awhile." He smiles before turning back around. "And in all actuality, it's good to be nervous sometimes. That means you know the importance of what's at stake."

_Only the fate of the entire world…_ I wrap my arms around his waist again as Epona begins again with a slight gallop. I stay silent for a long time, considering Link's words. I really want to believe him, but how Dark was able to use me to not only catch Epona, but to toy with Link as well disturbs me. I don't want to be used against my friends like that ever again.

"Link." He glances back at me. "If we ever get separated, how will I tell whether it's you or Dark pretending to be you?"

"Hmmm… What about a secret password of sorts?" He continues looking forward. "Something that only the two of us would think of."

"But wouldn't Dark already have some kind of clue as to how you think? Isn't he like your clone or something like that?" I frown. _Even if he is Link's clone… he could never measure up to the real thing. He can never truly be Link even if he can imitate how he looks and acts._

"True…" He says as he pushes some of the brush out of our way. "What about something from your past? What's something not even he would know about?"

_Something he wouldn't know about…_ My memories begin to overflow me as I search each one critically. I can't pick something that relates to the present time we're in, so it has to be something unique to my own era. "Tarin."

"Tarin?"

"Yeah; the name of my little brother." I answer, recalling that I never told him my little brother's name before. As foolish as it is, I suppose I had been constantly worrying about him to the point that I assumed that Link already knew. "Dark has never met him and as far as he knows, I don't have any relatives. He'll be caught off guard and alert me that he's not really you."

"Sounds like a plan to me." He smiles back at me.

My hear flutters happily from the effect of his stunning smile, but it's quickly changed as Dark's twisted grin arises from my memory. My breath shortens for only a slight second as I realize that it's just my mind playing a twisted joke on me. I would rather not linger on the thought of him, but there's something that continues to bother me about him.

I know that he's not the same as Link, but I wonder what he could truly be. He's obviously more than just a simple pawn created by one of Link's deceased enemies. Dark acts too independently to be something so mindless, but if that's the case, why would he continue to seek to finish the job he was assigned to do two years ago? It doesn't make any sense to me. Dark's too smart and egotistical to be happy to stay a pawn.

"I'm just wondering, but why do you think Dark continues to hunt you, even though his… eh, creator is gone? If I were him, I would've gone to somewhere else for a fresh start, you know?"

"I'm not sure… I never thought to question it." He keeps his eyes forward. I can feel his muscles subtly tense up as the silence thickens. "Sometimes I find that it's better not to ask questions; the answers aren't always needed nor necessary to hear."

With the depth of emotion encrypted in his tone, I can't find anything to immediately reply back with. I don't know why, but there's a heavy amount of sorrow or regret within his words. "What happened?"

"Hm?" He glances back over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"It just sounds like something had happened to you."

"It's nothing you need to worry about." He puts on a small smile; not one that he usually has, this one is one that I can tell is trying to mask over something. I don't change my expression for a long time, just staring back at him as I try to figure out what's trying to hide itself behind those beautiful blue eyes. After a few moments, his face softens, as if pleading for a response. "Please, I'm fine. It's really nothing you need to be worrying about."

_That's debatable…_ My frown begins to recede as I sigh. "Well… alright; if you say so."

With that, silence begins to enrapture us as it has been so often since we entered this forest. I lean against his shoulder, listening to the soft wind as time seems to slowly pass by. A bumpy of a ride it can be when one goes by horse, I find it relaxing, especially when I'm riding with Link. It much calmer than the other horse rides I can recall, but that's not my favorite part. Not even close. I'd have to say my favorite part by far is that I get to be so close to Link without it being awkward or weird; though I'm not sure if those other times are really all that awkward. I'd have to say more nerve wracking than anything else.

Once we get out of the forest, the sky reveals itself to be overthrown by a vast mass of thick grey that has stretched further than the eye can see. As we travel further out into the field, I look behind us to see that there's a much more vicious mass of dark clouds behind us that's slowly and steadily being pulled towards us by the winds.

"It looks like a storm is coming." I get Link to look back as well. _This doesn't seem too good. We're in an open field and if lightning strikes… we're so dead…_

"Yeah." He snaps the reins, encouraging Epona to go faster. "We have a lot of ground to cover. We can try to make it before it pours, but we're going to be cutting it close."

"Alright." I hug his waist tighter as the roll of thunder echoes mightily behind us.

The sound of the booming clouds is something strange that resonates deep within me. I don't know what it is about it, but there's something in the sound that calms me just as much as it unsettles me. It makes me think of the colors of infuriated reds and yellows as well as the tranquil, wide open fields of Hyrule. It's strange that I can receive two completely opposing messages from a single sound within nature's mass orchestra, but with another rumble of the grey clouds that trail behind us, I can feel something slowly arise from the depths of my mind. A memory of my distant past.

I can see it now; I can see what those reds and yellows are. They're flames thrashing around with the pull of the currents of air as they ascend to the tips of small structures that continue to grow smaller as my distance from them increases. After a moment of staring back at the horrid condition of the town in behind me, I notice that the reins of my horse are not in my hands, but in the hands of a man riding behind me that towers above me. I realize that this memory is from a time when I was younger, but I can't pinpoint it too well right now, it's hard to tell what's really going on.

While limited to the view that my younger counterpart has, I survey what I can to piece together what I can. It doesn't take very long to see that there are others around us, including my mother. She has a firm face filled with concern as her eyes dart around her. In front of her is a small child, a brown haired boy with scared eyes who clutches the mane of the horse they ride with his little fists. Tarin.

Seeing my younger brother disturbs me. I don't like the very real thought that he's always been in constant danger and it stings that I haven't been able to do anything to protect him from it. That thought makes me run through my more recent memories and cause a flame of confidence to surge through me. _Maybe once I become a Hero, my people won't have to suffer anymore. I'm not afraid to die for that._

I glance back behind us to see that the village is out of sight now, only the smoke of the fire giving any evidence of the destruction. Trailing behind our group is a cloud the stretches all across the night sky, blocking out what little light the moon could provide us with. Then there's another crash of thunder, followed by a long, bright string of lighting. With that momentary flash of light, I can see something small a long distance behind us that seems to be following our group. I can't tell who or what it is, but my young instincts didn't like it and nor do my more experienced ones either.

"Everyone, don't let your guard down just yet!" The man above me orders the others with a quick, quiet tone that still held much authority. I recognize the familiarity of his voice, but I just can't pinpoint how I do.

As he places one hand on the sheathed sword on his hip, I look up at the man unable to make out many features of his face until another flash of lighting leapt across the skies. He had scruffy brown hair and a short beard with deep brown eyes. For a long time, my mind runs blank. _Where do I know this guy?_

"Nasia." He whispers down to me with a small smile. "Don't worry; everything will be alright, sweetie."

I can only nod, my younger counterpart not wanting to say something too loud to get us caught by whoever we were running away from, but my mind is surging in response to the realization I just had. It was so simple; there was no other explanation to who it could've been, so how could I have overlooked it so easily? How could it have not crossed my mind that this man was my father? Other that the eyes and the facial hair, he looked like an older Tarin; it was so obvious.

My younger self quickly glances behind us again, my mind filling up with dread when I see the figure has multiplied into a group rivaling the size of ours. Even at this early stage of my life, the danger I was in was clearly eminent to me. I knew that the group behind us was likely to have weapons lusting for innocent blood; our blood. I knew that I was too young and too weak to really protect myself very well, let alone anyone else around me. All I could do was wait while the dread within my heart grew and grew to the point that it made my little body tremble. With what little comprehension I had of the world at that time, I did know one thing. I didn't want to die.

"Nasia." Link's voice shakes me out of my memory. "Do you not like thunder?"

"No, I have no problem with thunder; I was just thinking." My grip tightens as I think back to the helplessness I felt in that last memory. I don't want to feel like that ever again, nor anyone else. _I have to end this soon… before more blood is spilt._

"Don't worry it'll be alright." His had touches one of mine for a moment as if reading the uneasiness of my mind; then I realize that he probably could sense it due to my suddenly tensed muscles.

He then brings his hand to his face and begins to take it off with his teeth. I raise a curious eyebrow as I watch him fumble with the gauntlet. "What are you doing?"

He doesn't say anything as he finishes taking it off and loosely places it on my hand right. "We're not going to make it to shelter before the rain comes and we don't want your wounds to get infected. These will help at least keep them a little dry."

"Oh. Alright…" I can feel my face flush as we work together to get the gauntlet on my hand and then proceed to do the same thing with the other. It's a bit strange, but wearing his gauntlets makes my heart flutter. It's almost as if it makes me special in some sort of way; not many people can say they've worn the Hero's gauntlets. Then again, not many people can say that they're the Hero of Time like Link is and I soon will be.

"Nasia, do you like riding in storms?" He glances over his shoulder at me.

"Kind of?" I ask myself confused. I find it weird that the storm made me feel both uneasy and calmed, so maybe I do? "I'm not sure. I can't recall much of anything about storms at the moment."

"I guess we'll be finding out then, won't we?" A playfully devilish grin settles on his face. As Epona picks up her speed bit by bit, I make my grip just a little bit tighter. "Hold on."

For what seems like an eternity, I zone out as I try to concentrate and think about what about a storm could be calming. So far, all it has been is loud, but that doesn't last for long. Even as we continue to race forward, I can see the winds pushing thick curtains of rain towards us. Within minutes, gentle droplets of water begin to fall from above, caressing my face as they land on my skin and are pulled down by gravity's mighty will. It makes a small smile creep across my lips as I lean against Link's back and listen to the sounds around us, finding myself at peace with the storm even as the sting of the raindrops intensifies with the winds that seem to be swirling around us. There's just something about it that calms even my flustered soul.

I gaze up at Link after a moment to see a smile stretched across his cheeks as he urges Epona faster and faster. It's clear that he like storms too, but in a slightly different way. It seems like he likes the randomness of it, the wild spirit of it fuels him and brings him to life. I like the natural orchestra, playing a song that every being in the land could understand, whether it be Hyrulian or otherwise.

The storm reminds me of my past in a way, too. I can't make out details, but it seems like the course of my life is being read like a strange book in my mind, making the hazy pictures on the pages spring into momentary life as they act out the scene before disappearing for the emergence of another. I can pick up small things within the scenes, such as Tarin and my mother, along with Adkin. Those three seemed to be in my life more than anyone else or were the most important people in my life; I can't really tell which it is. Either way, I know that there's one more person to add. Link.

Out of everyone, Link is by far one of the most important people to me. It would pain me to lose him just as much as it would pain me to lose my brother and just as much as it pained me to lose my parents. To think that after all this is over, we'll be separated by time to the extent that we'll never see each other again breaks my heart. I wish with all my heart that one day after we defeat the darkness that we'll be reunited again. If the Goddesses could grant me just one selfish wish, I want it to be that…


	20. Chapter 20

Alright, so I've been Tumblr…ing? Is that the correct word? Well, anyways, I've been on Tumblr lately and you don't know how psyched I got when I saw the new games featuring Link! For those of you who don't already know, I'll introduce them to you c:

The first I will talk about is the well rumored "Wind Waker" for the Wii U. Honestly, I was never been able to play the original "Wind Waker" due to not having the right system in my possession, but I've read plenty about it, seen artwork, and have watched enough GMVs to have a good idea as to the general story of the game is. Still, even with my lack of knowledge, I'm very much looking forward to this new remake (I just hope I can get the Wii U in time!).

The second, and the one I look forward to even more than "Wind Waker" remake, is the "Super Smash Bros. (4?)" for the Wii U and 3DS. I've so been in love with "Super Smash Bros." ever since my brother got me into it about a year ago and I started playing "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" (where I happen to be very good playing as Pit, Peach, and Lucas, among other characters c: ). I even started writing a fanfiction for it, but I don't think I'll be releasing that for a while since there's some serious editing needing to be done to it, but I will keep you posted as to if and when I will (I'm sure you'll like it if you like Nasia c; but no more spoilers than that).

The third one is the one I'm most excited about! Why? Because it's very much like an earlier game that I had played and basically introduced me to the whole franchise as a child. No, not "Ocarina of Time" nor either of the Oracle games (though I have played both GBC games). What I played was a remake for a newer system of the time, the Game Boy Advanced. Yes, it was the GBA remake of "A Link to the Past" and I still have a copy of it even to this day (though I don't have that exact cartridge due to my little brother who lost it… I swear I'll find it one day! . ).

I didn't realize how pun-y the name was back then since I was only like seven or eight at the time and had never heard of Zelda before then, but that's aside from the point. I shared the game with my brother and my mom since my little sister was more into games she could actually play well (such as "Tetris" and yes, she's a pro at it and has the tune memorized) and the more I played the game, the more I fell in love with it. We soon got other games, such as "Oracle of Ages", "Link's Awakening", and "Oracle of Seasons" (in that order), and then later on "Twilight Princess" and "Skyward Sword" and now here I am babbling in a Zelda fanfiction about part of my childhood. Anyway, I saw the trailer thingy for this game and I freaked! I was all just like "No way, no way, no way! This is too good to be true!" My heart was beating so fast that I could hardly take it. This new game had so many similarities plus some new features that I'm totally driven to get a 3DS now!

Sorry, my bad for babbling, but would you like to finally know what this game is called now? c: It's "A Link Between Worlds" and it looks awesome in my biased opinion, so I highly recommend you check it out! Lolz XD But seriously, it does look like a good game and I hope that they don't disappoint old fans with this new remake c:

This babbling brings me to a thought… What were your guys' first games in the Zelda franchise? I'm sure you guys must have one that you keep close to your heart and I would love to know about them c:

Oh, and another thought… even though we're not even close to the conclusion of this tale, would you guys like a sequel? Too early to tell? I know I probably should finish writing the story before thinking of such a thing, but even so, I've already drawn up a lot of ideas for it in my mind over the past few months and I was just wondering if you guys would enjoy such a thing, you know? I look forward to writing it since I've been wanting to base it on one of my favorite Zelda games, but I just want to make sure that I'm not going to be alone in it

Anyhow, I'm going to cease my venting for now, but I hope to get your thoughts on your favorite game and whether I should do a sequel soon! I hope you all enjoy!

Please read and rate/comment, I'd really love to hear what you have to say!

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The Other Hero of Time

Chapter 20

Just as another flash of lightning strikes, followed by the bellowing of the thunder, we dash into the brush and come to a screeching halt as Epona shakes her mane out. Link looks back at me with a wide grin, laughing a bit. "Well?"

"I liked it." I smile with the ring of his laughter, noting a droplet that falls on me from the thick blankets of leaves above. "We should continue on towards Faron if Epona's feeling up to it."

Epona whinnies, shaking her mane once more to thrown tiny drops of water at me and Link in the process. Link pats her neck with a smile. "It's fine, girl. If you need rest, I can take it from here."

She immediately starts to continue south without Link's doing. I don't understand why, but she's being so stubborn to take us even though she seems tired and very rightly so. She's been racing around half of Hyrule just to get us to where we need to go. Surely she would like a break, but I don't know why she's refusing to do so.

Link sighs, shaking his head. "Have it your way."

"Why is she being so stubborn?"

"I don't know, but sometimes you just have to let Epona do her thing." He shrugs his shoulders. "Most of the time, it's for the best. She knows what she's doing."

"Animal instincts?" I say as I look around Link to her. I can tell she senses something, I just wish I knew what exactly could cause her to be so driven like this. I just hope it's not something bad.

"Most likely." He agrees. "Animals are supposed to be even more sensitive to the land around them and nature in general than us Hylians are."

I nod, suddenly having a realization. "Aren't the two of us supposed to be more sensitive to? We can transform into wolves after all."

"Yes and no." He looks back at me. "We mainly have it when we transform and only part of it stays with us when turn back into a human. The more you transform into a wolf, the more you're able to sense as a human, but it's still nothing compared to the senses you have as a wolf."

"I see…" I think over what he said, making sense of it. I suppose my senses are a little bit better than they were before. The first time I encountered Dark, I thought it was my imagination, but the second time that happened, I knew immediately that he was very much real.

I guess it's something really small in hindsight, but I suppose it's a good thing if I can sense things around me. Maybe the pain of transformation is worth the heightened senses as human, but I still only want to transform if it's truly necessary. But, wait. If Link fought the Twilight and needed to use the Shadow Crystal, just how many times did he need to use it? And could his senses have faded over time or are they still as strong as they were back then? Will I ever need to use it as much as he does or was that the only time I needed to use it?

Looking away from Link and to the forest surrounding us, I wonder just what exactly do the animals sense and how. I suppose that could be answered by being a wolf for awhile, but we don't have time to fool around with frivolous things such as that. Still, I'm curious as to what exactly they sense and how they do it to be more connected with the world than us humans are.

"What in the world…?" Link mumbles while Epona continues marching forward. Looking around him, I find the remains of trees and bushes sprawled everywhere, leaving a shambled path to somewhere far to our east. "What could've happened here?"

"This is the path I had taken to get away from the Bokoblins." I recognize this part of the trail as being the near center of the distance I traveled and also the same place that Dark had knocked my unconscious. "To think that I had run that far… I must've had a lot of adrenaline in me."

"They either knew the layout of the land rather well or just got lucky." He gets off Epona, taking a better look down the path. "It looks like you were veered away from the spring and started heading towards the poisonous fog blocking the Forest Temple and the Sacred Grove."

"The Forest Temple and the Sacred Grove?" I repeat, the names ringing a bell somewhere deep in my mind. "What are those?"

"Well, we don't know much about the Forest Temple, but it's a place I had to venture to while fighting against the Twilight. It's said to be a place created by the early Hylians. The Sacred Grove is a place near the Forest Temple and also said to be created by our ancestors. It's in the Sacred Grove where this sword is usually kept." He walks back over towards me and Epona, pulling out his purple hilted sword. I tilt my head, curious about the beautiful blade. I had noticed something special about it when I picked it up before, but I couldn't understand it. "I don't think I told you this before, but this is called the Master Sword. It can only be used by the prophesized Heroes to ward off the evil that threatens the land."

"Only the Heroes?" I stare at the blade for a long time. "Then how was I able to use it? I'm not a Hero yet. And how was that silver-haired man able to hold it?"

"It could be the Goddesses' will; they wouldn't give someone such an important responsibility if they weren't able to handle it." He smiles easily. "And I never said anything about touching it. Anyone can touch it, but only the Heroes can use its true power."

"Ah, that makes sense." I smile back at him, and then look down the shambled path one last time. I'm impressed that I had could've so far and so fast on foot to out run those huge lizards, but I suppose I shouldn't linger on it. I then hold my hand out towards him. "We better get going. We don't have much further until we reach the Spirit Spring, do we?"

"No, not very far at all." He shakes his head, taking the reins in his hand. "I'll manage on foot. You ride; you're still recovering after all."

I try not frown. "If you say so."

He smiles again, beginning to lead Epona through the brush. I let out a small sigh to myself, disappointed that he didn't want to ride with me, though I guess it's better for Epona to carry less weight right now if she's tired. Still, I don't think I'm all that hurt anymore. To be honest, I feel fine; there's no need to baby me.

Still, why is he babying me in the first place? I'm not all that younger than him; other than being born generations after him, he's not that much older than me in his current state. Maybe it's part of those animal instincts he was talking about. Or perhaps the guilt about having me brought into this mess is still digging at him. Then again, he's always been a gentleman, even from the first moment we exchanged greetings.

_He did something similar to this that first day we met at the palace. He led me through the castle town and met that Telma lady who teased us…_ The memory makes me flush even brighter than when the event occurred. To think that she actually thought we were lovers was ridiculous to me only a few days ago, but after everything we've been through, I wonder how Link would feel about such a notion. Sure, he tried to kiss me that one time, but nothing came out of it and we haven't spoken of it since. Though, I wonder if he thinks about it. I would say that I have no doubt with how most men are, but Link's not like most men. He's much more mature and responsible at such a young age. Sometimes, he could be pretty hard to read, especially when he wants to hide something.

_I wonder if he'll ever tell me about that dream he had or what caused him to be so tense earlier._ My mind begins to wonder as my gaze focuses on him for a moment. _Sure, they're small things and probably are insignificant to the task at hand, but still… What could be so bad that he wouldn't wish to tell me?_

I can't stop myself from pondering about that for a long time, even though I try to distract myself with everything in the forest that surrounds me. Still, nothing seems to be working with me to calm my mind. Not even the natural orchestra of the forest that usually sooths my soul is doing any sort of winder to calm the storm of thoughts that is swirling around within me.

All I want is for him to be able to trust me and confide in me… though I suppose it's wrong for me to do so. We've only known each other for no more than five days and he has plenty of people in his life that I'm sure he would rather share his thoughts with. After all, we'll soon have parted paths where we'll never be able to see each other, let along talk to each other ever again. Though it makes me wonder… would he talk of me with his friends after all of this is through? Or will I be forgotten?

I know that I'll never be able to forget him after everything he has done for me, but what can he say about me? What am I to him? To me, he's… he's precious. I may not know much of what my life was like before I met him, but I know that my life has gotten a little brighter ever since we met. He takes away my worries so easily in a way I never knew was possible. He does it even better and easier than Adkin had tried in that one memory.

_I wonder what has happened to my people since my departure…_ I think with a mental sigh echoing through the swirling thoughts in my mind that continue to fill me with worry and anxiety. _I hope nothing too bad. I wonder if they knew that something like this was going to happen to me or if they even witnessed my departure. What if they didn't? Maybe they think I'm either captured or dead. In any case, I'm sure they'll be glad to see me and even happier to know that the Chosen Hero has come to save the land from destruction as it had been done so many times in the past._

Looking forward to the forest a head, I begin to feel something magical about it. Something power and safe. I notice that this part of the forest is much more serene than the previous parts of the forest that we've ventured through. It literally feels lighter and happier, so much to the point that I think anyone would probably have a hard time being in a foul mood in this area of the forest. "We're almost there."

"Hm?" Link looks back at me, a slight glimmer of confusion mixed with curiosity in his bright eyes. "We are… How did you know?"

"I can just tell." My face begins to burn, realizing that I had actually vocalize my thought. I honestly though I was just thinking to myself. "Luck guess?"

He just smiles at me with a small chuckle, continuing to lead me further south. "I suppose."

I just look at him for a moment, curious about what he could've found amusing as my face continues to burn slightly. I settle to not read too much into it as we continue to travel in silence, but it's not all that uncomfortable. Actually, it's more peaceful than anything else with the greenery around us giving off the feelings of protection and security.

Then again, it feels so strange to me to actually feel safe for a long period of time like this; my instincts beginning to kick in as I absentmindedly survey the area around us for any signs of danger. My mind begins to fill up with the memories of various times when I have been attacked by those annoying creatures both in my era and in this one. It seems like those ugly Bokoblins have been on my trail ever since I was a child, before I became selected to be the next Hero of Time.

_Please don't let another enemy pop up again…_ My head begins to pound with the anxiety that's quickly filling my system. _I really don't want anymore delays in getting back to my era. I need to find my people…_

For the longest time, I have to force myself to calm down and eventually I do. No enemies appear at any time to pose any sort of threat to us. In fact, nothing of evil nature seems to cross our path even once. It's a strange situation for me, but I happily and cautiously accept it. Why question a time of ceasefire? There's no harm in being cautious about it, but certainly don't want to jinx it.

"Nasia." Link looks back at me, pointing towards a area of light shining through the trees. "We're just about there."

I nod, smiling as I look in the direction that he points with a spur of determination filling my heart. "Time for my final judgment."

He nods, smiling back at me with a soft look in his eyes. "You're ready."

My heart begins to pound just a bit louder as my face becomes increasingly hotter, proud to be praised. "Almost, you still haven't taught me all of the Hidden Skills yet."

"True, but I'm sure you'll learn them in no time." He chuckles, beginning to urge Epona to follow him once again. "They're easy enough for Heroes of our caliber."

"Right." I can barely say through my wide smile and loss of breath.

Hearing those words of appraisal, I can feel my face truly begin to burn. Even if it's only a short comment, but it still makes me happy to be talked so highly of, especially by him. He's been with me through this whole adventure, giving me guidance and courage the whole way through. If I were left with anyone else, I'm not sure if they'd be so kind and willing as Link was to join me in this mysterious adventure. Then again, I suppose that's the heart of a true Hero beating inside of him, never refusing to help someone in need.

_Thank you._ I smile at him for a moment as he leads me into the area where the sun shines brightly through the leaves.

As we enter the open area, all I can focus on is the leaves above us dancing in the soft breeze, water collected from the passing storm dripping gently down to the ground below. I then look to the beautifully clear spring where hundreds of tiny ripples form from where the water droplets bounce on the spring's surface and cross paths with each other. I think back to the other Spirit Springs, finding this one's beauty to me much more awing than the others. Somehow, this one resonates with me much more than the other two had. This one makes my spirit feel so light and free, much like I've found a home within this era as if it had always been my home.

I pull out the Stone of Trials from under my tunic and hold it in my hand for a moment, gazing down at the two pieces that are now glowing so brightly. Looking to the spring, I know they must be reacting to the Light Spirit residing here for I can sense it, too. There's a magic about this place too hard for even one as unknowing as me to ignore. Something about this place calls to me and I know that it's the Light Spirit. It's expecting me.

I look to Link who looks back at me and nod. He smiles, holding his hand out for me. There's no words exchanged between us as I dismount from Epona, but we both know what the other's thinking. We know this is it. We know that after this, we'll be able to travel to my era and end the evil causing the people of Hyrule so much pain. I'll be able to fulfill my new role as the Hero in the name of the Goddesses. In the back of my mind, I also know that it's getting that much closer to the time that we'll have to part forever, but I decide to not focus on that; the smiling face of my people are much more important than my own happiness.

The spring welcomes we with a beautiful glimmer of its waters as I begin to walk towards it, Link watching as he stays at Epona's side. With each footstep closer, I can feel the heavenly power of the Light Spirit watching me, judging my worthiness. I find that even though I have the weight of Hyrule's future entirely on my shoulders alone, I'm not afraid. Actually, I'm more determined than ever to gain this heavenly spirit's approval for if I don't, then everything in my era will be doomed to fall to evil's greedy hands. There's no way I can fail, not with everything that rests at stake.

I step one foot into the water and then another. With each step, my boots become filled with the water, cooled from the recent rain that has passed. My feet stop no further than a meter from the shore and I begin to wait, staring up at a spot above me where I saw a twinkle of light. I know that it's not a reflection from the spring for the sun shines brightly only behind the dark clouds that continue to linger above. There, Faron is watching me.

Figuring it appropriate, I bow to the small twinkle of light before looking back up to it. Slowly, the light grows bigger and brighter as it floats down a little to the point that I have to shield my eyes from the light. When the light becomes more tolerable, I see the spirit holding onto a shining sphere of light with a tail curling up around it to its back, ancient patterns decorating its spiritual body.

The spirit looks to me and then bows its head in response. "It has been a long time, child of a era yet to come."

"Indeed." I nod, finding familiarity in this being. I know for a fact that I have met this spirit before, though I can't exactly recall when or where.

"I have been watching for a long time, but it has been ages since we have united face to face. You certainly have grown since the time we had first encountered. Stronger and braver, still baring such kind eyes. The traits of a true Hero." Its light begins to shine in a way as if the spirit is smiling at me. "Now the time has finally come to see whether you can truly sustain the mark the Goddesses placed on your hand."

"Yes, to see if I can truly become the next Hero of Time." I look down to the Stone of Trials for a moment, seeing the red and blue triangles shining brightly. "I have gained the blessings of both Eldin and Lanayru; now I ask for your blessings as well."

"Tell me, maiden chosen by the Goddesses, what is the reason you continued this quest even without any knowledge of your past."

"Why I continued?" I repeat the spirit, thinking of what word would be wise to choose. Speaking to a heavenly spirit, I certainly don't want to say anything to offend it, but I don't want to muddle the meaning of my message. "Though I didn't know very much and everything was still very hazy for me, I understood that this mark meant that I had a responsibility. Watching another with the same mark, I knew that it was my roll as well to fight against those who posed a threat to the land of Hyrule and those who I care dearly about. Being ignorant to that fact would be like turning my back on all the people I love and the land of the Goddesses itself. No matter how frightened I got at times, I knew I had to forge on for the smiles of my people. That is why I continue to fight."

The spirit says nothing for a while, but I force myself to not get to unnerved. I mean those words from the heart and if my heart isn't strong enough, then I'll never be able to forgive myself. Not being strong enough means that my people will not have a Hero to fight against the dark forces that loom over them. They all will parish in fear and I will not tolerate such a thing coming to pass.

Suddenly, my necklace begins to shine brightly in three colors, the two that had already been glowing and the third shining a bright shade of lively green from the lower right triangle. "As it has been foretold, you have faced challenges that most mortals would either flee from or fail to succeed, you have shined through. You have faced enemies where the odds were stacked highly against you and survived. You have shone great amounts of courage in your young life. There is a true heart of a Hero that beats inside your mortal chest and a spirit just as strong. It is with great honor that I grant you my blessing, young Hero."

My heart stops for a moment before the mark on the back of my hand begins to glow through my gauntlets. All words are lost as my gaze travels between the stone, my hand, and the Faron in awe, a wide smile piercing my lips. _I did it… I-I really am the Hero of Time!_

"Now young Heroes, you must travel into the future and reclaim Hyrule as the Heroes that came before." The spirit regains my attention. "I would send you both to the future myself, but it took power from all three of us Light Spirits to get you here in the first place. It'll be too late if you wait for us to regain enough spiritual energy to send you forward in time."

"So what are we to do?" I ask, my brow furrowed in worry that something horrible has happened in my era. "Could there be another way for us to get to my era?"

"In fact there is, for the stone that hangs from your neck has many magical qualities. Far north of us, within the deserts lie the remains of what used to be the portal to Twilight. Take it there and you'll be able to travel into the future." Faron's light begins to fade and dim. "I wish you both luck. Save the land as you both have so many times before."

_To the desert then!_ I clench my fists in determination, looking at the Stone of Trials with pride. I look back at Link gleefully to see a soft smile on his face. Making my way over to him, I steadily grow faster into a god jog and tackle him in a hug. "I did it! I really did it! I'm a Chosen Hero!"

"I never had a doubt." I can hear his breath returning to him as he hugs me back. He stays there for a minute before I let go of him and see his blushing face.

"We should… get moving now, shouldn't we?" I realize what I had just done, my own face beginning to burn. "We should use what daylight we have wisely."

"After we heal your wounds." He takes one of my hands and unties the gauntlet to reveal bloodied bandages. His brow furrows as he unwraps the garbs and looks at my wound. The blood has long stopped, but it doesn't look very good. He does the same with the other, finding it to be in similar condition. "They look almost infected… Come, the spring should be able to heal these."

"Okay." I nod, following him as he leads me back to the water, one hand on my wrist and the other holding the gauntlets. I can't stop myself from blushing and having a feeling of recognition to when I dragged him along at Lake Hylia. _I wonder how he felt about that back then…_

He kneels beside the water, motioning for me to kneel beside him and I comply quickly. He smiles, glancing towards the water. "Put your hands in the water."

Staring at the water, it reminds me of the time in Kakariko where Renado had to used water to heal Link's wounds; the cut in his tunic still residing there. I slowly put my hands into the water, finding that it's a little warmer than I thought it would be. I watch in amazement as the marks begin to glow brightly with a soft yellow hue as Link's had. I find it hard to believe what I'm seeing as I watch the cells in my hands begin to work their magic, quickly growing and regenerating. As the glow begins to fade, my hands show no sign of the infection that was beginning to pop up, nor any sign of the marks being there in the first place.

"A-Amazing…" I take my hands out of the water in awe. "I didn't even feel any pain…"

"That's the magic of the water from the Spirit Springs." Link stands, putting his hand out for me. "Hopefully, you won't need it for anything much worse than this."

"Hopefully…" I stand, taking his hand. Looking back to the water for a moment, remembering the Light Spirit Faron forever resides in this spring and what he had told us before he vanished. "Where in the desert is the portal to Twilight's remnants?"

"At the peak of Arbiter's Grounds." He looks off in the distance before looking back at me. "Come, we better head to Arbiter's Grounds. We have a pretty good distance to travel in a short time."

I nod, following him to Epona's side. "Then let's get going."


End file.
